Pigtails and Toy Soldiers
by Morbidly Obscure
Summary: Our favorite Twilight characters are little kids, all under the age of nine. All human. ExB AxJ RxE maybe a little JxV. Fluff. Let's see what happens next. Trust me, it'll be cute. COMPLETE!
1. First Meeting

**Okay, so I had to write this, it was soooo cute! Character ages will vary from six to eight, the age will be said for all of them. Some characters will be siblings, you'll just have to read to find out. Constructive criticism is welcome. Flames will be laughed at and used to roast marshmallows. Fluff fic, you have been warned.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

Six year old Bella Swan raced into the playground, giggling as she ran. The first day of first grade had just finished and Bella was happy to be free. School was cool and stuff, but the playground was bound to be _way _more fun! Her blue sundress flapped in the breeze, and her hair was up in two tight pigtails tied with matching blue ribbons. Bella's sights were set on the sandbox, where she could see two kids a little older than her playing. She was just about there when she tripped over her shiny, new school shoes. Bella was used to this by now, but it still hurt when she fell. She squeezed her eyes shut, waiting to land face first on the ground when two hands caught her.

Looking up, the first thing she saw was a pair of emerald green eyes. She blinked, looking at the boy who had caught her. He looked to be about her age with unruly bronze hair and pale skin. For a moment they both just stared at each other; Bella could feel blood rushing to the semi translucent skin of her cheeks.

"Um, I'm Bella," Bella said, blushing even deeper. The boy shook himself before answering.

"My name's Edward," He said, smiling now. Bella noticed that his smile was just slightly crooked, "_Not_ Eddie, my sister calls me Eddie," He added, scowling. Bella had to giggle at that as her blush continued to grow.

* * *

Rosalie Hale was sitting in the very middle of the sandbox, her blue-violet eyes narrowed in concentration at her sandcastle. It had to be perfect, like everything else Rosalie did. Suddenly, she felt a tug on one of her long, silky, blonde pig tails. She whipped around furiously to see a black haired boy who looked to be seven years old, Rosalie's age. He was big though; he reminded Rosalie of the teddy bear she had before she'd decided she was too old for it. The only thing missing was the bow around his neck. If she weren't so livid, Rosalie might've thought he was cute.

Looking-well, glaring- at him, Rosalie recognized him as Emmet McCarthy, her next door neighbor. Emmet and his family had come to meet Rosalie's family after they'd moved in last month. She had never met him though. She had been throwing a tantrum at the time (it was _soooooo_ not fair for them to move!). Emmet and Rosalie's brother Jasper had already had a playdate. It hadn't gone well; Rosalie was the outgoing sibling, the one with the friends. Jasper was shy, a fact that Rosalie loved to tease him with.

Presently, Emmet was snickering at Rosalie's fury, dimples showing. Big mistake. Anyone who knew Rosalie also knew her wrath, however, unfortunately for Emmet, he didn't. Rosalie kicked sand into Emmet's face. Her sandcastle was destroyed in the process; it was worth it.

"Aw, I'm sorry Rose," Emmet said after shaking like a dog to get the sand off.

"My name's _Rosalie,_" Rosalie snapped, "Rosalie _Hale_ to you."

"I _said _I was sorry!" Emmet muttered eyes downcast.

"Then why'd you do it?!" Rosalie demanded, still fuming. Emmet's face then turned a rather interesting shade of red, bordering on purple, before turning and hurrying off. Rosalie shrugged; boys are weird.

* * *

Alice Cullen moved gracefully across the playground, dancing to a song heard only in her head. She was wearing a black buttoned red jumper over black tights and mary-janes. Twin red bows adorned her short cropped black hair. She had dressed herself today. Her mommy had shaken her head, saying Alice looked "too gothic"- whatever that means! Alice thought it make her look like a lady-bug.

Alice had always been different. Back in Alaska, kids had ignored her. She wondered if things her in Forks would be different… Scanning the playground for her twin brother Edward, she spotted something that made her stop her search: a little blond boy about her age playing with hand-me-down looking toy soldiers. Alice cocked her head to one side, he seemed to be taking it very seriously; eye brows furrowed, tongue ever so slightly out of his mouth in concentration. He didn't appear to be aware of his surroundings, sitting criss-cross-applesauce on the black top area that was just before the playground. He was completely alone. Without thinking, the way she usually did things, Alice walked over to him. He was a lot like her, alone but not lonely.

"Watcha doin?" Alice sing-songed from behind him.

"Playin war," the boy answered distractedly.

"I'm Ally, what'd your name?" Alice asked.

"Jasper," He replied, still not looking at her. Alice was unfazed by his short, dispassionate answers. People had always said that she was "off in her own world". She had never been completely sure of what it meant, but she liked the sound of it. Well, this boy was obviously "in his own world," he just had a bit of a hard time getting out of it.

"Wanna be friends?" She inquired cheerfully. Now the boy looked up, regarding her seriously, before nodding his gold head in a slow decisive yes.


	2. Jamie and Vicky

**Heh, this is the humor part of the story. I wrote this story last year, and this is the only chapter I haven't tweaked a whole bunch; translation: it's bad. Either way, I hope you can get a giggle out of it. These two characters are eight, and before you say anything about the dialogue, I have an eight year old brother and he talks like this. I own nothing.**

"JA-MIE," The little red headed girl shrieked at the top of her lungs.

"Shut _up _Vicky! I'm right here!" The boy shouted, clapping his hands over his ringing ear drums.

"I wanna go on the slide," Vicky complained.

"Well _I _don't, so we're not going," Jamie said, crossing his arms, only to have a fistful of sawdust shoved in his face. "Ack!" he spluttered, "What the hell was that for?!?" He demanded, using a word he learned watching one of the "bad channels" his mom thought she'd blocked.

Vicky gasped, eyes widening in shock before narrowing in anger.

"I'm telling your mom!" She exclaimed.

"Fine," Jamie spat, "Tell her, I don't care."

"Fine," Vicky shrugged and grinned. "OH MRS-" Jamie clamped a hand over her mouth.

"Please Vicky," He begged, fear in his eyes now, "Don't tell my mom!"

"Slide," Vicky instructed. Jamie grumbled something unintelligible before following Vicky to the slide.

* * *

While Vicky flung herself own the slide, Jamie mentally debated the pros and cons of strangling her.

"_Jamie!"_ Vicky called, "I want you to push me this time," she exclaimed as her pale, freckle smattered face appeared onto the slide plat form.

"_Oh I'll push you_ _right off a cliff,_" Jamie muttered to himself.

"What was that?" Vicky demanded, suspicion crossing her fine features. Jamie felt his eyes widen; _Crud, did I say that out loud?_ He wondered.

"Oh, um, er, nothing," He spluttered, searching for a cover-up, "is that a new skirt?" He finally got out. Vicky's face brightened instantly causing Jamie to breathe a deep sigh of relief.

"Yeah!" Vicky responded cheerfully, "and when I spin it does this!" Vicky spun in a circle to demonstrate.

"Riiiiiight," Jamie said slowly, "So, uh, whatcha wanna do now?"

"Well…" Vicky tapped a finger to her chin, considering. "Last time we played dollies you ripped the heads off of all my Barbies" Vicky's tone was accusatory.

"Here's an idea, let's _not_, play dollies," Jamie said enthusiastically.

"Kay," Vicky shrugged, "Wanna play tag?" Vicky asked, brightening.

"Sure…"

"Tag! You're it!" Vicky shrieked an ran off, cackling maniacally. Jamie shrugged and walked away in the opposite direction.

**Okay, I just want to apologize for that chapter. It's just too fun to write James as Victoria as kids. Sorry if they come off too OOC, remember, they're eight. I'm especially sorry for making Victoria into a Ridilin candidate, and the sheer number of exclamation marks in this chapter. Anyway, please review, they really make my day.**


	3. Ballet Princess

**Heh, I'm sort of winging this chapter, I needed a filler. My original story was too rushed. This moves it along better. I hope you still like it.**

**Disclaimer: I no own, you no sue**

"Bella, remember you have ballet practice after this," Her mother called from the car, "Don't get your outfit dirty!"

"But mommy, I suck, **(AN sound familiar?)**" Bella replied, but her mother didn't hear (or pretended not to.) Bella glared down at her ballet outfit.

_Stupid leotard. Stupid tutu. Stupid tights. _Even at six Bella knew she looked fairly ridiculous dressed like on a playground; but then again, there was Mikey Newton wearing his Spider Man costume…

It wasn't so much her appearance, Bella decided, as the outfit's affect on her already disastrous balance. The tutu was large, scratchy, and heavy, and the bun on her head was cutting off circulation to her brain.

Bella forced herself to look up from her (slightly dirty) ballet flats and instantly regretted it; all the kids were staring at her. She felt her face turn bright pink.

_Now I match my outfit, _Bella thought miserably. Her blush deepened when she noticed most of the onlookers were boys, _Gross! Don't they know about cooties? _And turned flat out scarlet when she saw Edward, the boy she had met yesterday, watching as well. Bella now vaguely resembled a ballet-dancing tomato.

Bella had the sudden urge to run away as fast as her small legs could carry her but deciding against it, as she would most likely fall over and embarrass herself further. Instead she lifted her chin and walked, as confidently as she could manage, to her new friend Edward.

_His eyes are __really__ green, _Bella thought randomly, _like mommy's emerald necklace._ She also noted his hair, which looked messy but somehow really great-looking, _No fair! When __my__ hair's messy, I just look silly! _

Edward's eyes were still wide by the time Bella reached him. She giggled a little nervously at this, causing Edward to shake himself.

"You look…"

"Goofy?" Bella volunteered, "Silly? Dumb?"

"Like a princess," Edward finished wonderingly.

"What do you know about princesses?" Bella challenged, she knew for a fact that boys weren't interested in those things. Maybe he had a sister or something.

"Some stuff," Edward responded to the challenge that her voice, "like that they're real pretty, and that you look like one," he finished matter-of-factly. He lifted his chin self-assuredly.

Bella could only blush and smile appreciatively.


	4. Worms and Confessions

**Sooo sorry for the wait! It took me a while to get this one written, and I like how it turned out. Before you read this, imagine for a moment: a pissed off 7-year-old Rosalie… scary huh?**

**Disclaimer: Look, I'm writing **_**fan**_**fiction, why in the world would I do that if I wrote the freaking book?**

Rosalie strode into the playground, her small chin held high and determination written clearly on her pretty features. She was set on getting answers from Emmet; she _deserved_ an explanation, and she was going to get one. First she looked toward the sandbox, that was where she had seen Emmet last time, but there was no one there. She then let her eyes wander over the black top. Only seeing her brother and a tiny licorice-haired girl playing, she turned her attention to the playground. She made a mental note to embarrass Jasper later.

Rosalie stamped her small foot in frustration, this was _so_ unfair! She stood there, silently seething, for quite a while. In fact, she was so lost in her stormy thoughts that Rosalie barely noticed the slimy feeling on her back.

Blue-violet eyes bulged slightly as Rosalie reached beneath the frilly collar of her shirt and pulled out…

…_A worm?!?!_

Rosalie shrieked and pitched it as far across the playground as she could manage. Ew ew ew ew _ew!_ She stared in horror at her now slimy hands; she could still _feel_ it on her back…

She turned sharply at the sound of raucous laughter to see Emmet, literally rolling on the sawdust covered ground, laughing. Rosalie could feel herself turning bright red- with anger or embarrassment she didn't know- and tears of fury and humiliation pricking her eyes.

Still, she refused to cry, after all she was much too mature for that. No, instead of crying she let loose a scream; A real ear-splitter. Emmet stopped laughing, but he made no move to extricate himself from the ground. He was too busy covering his ears and cringing (as were the majority of children within a ten foot radius.)

Finally, Rosalie stopped. Emmet peeked out from between his hands before pushing himself into a sitting position. Rosalie watched, a smile of malicious satisfaction on her beatific face as Emmet slowly got up, one hand still cupping his ear. Standing now, Emmet rubbed his head and regarded Rosalie sheepishly, if not somewhat fearfully.

"Why did you put a worm down my shirt?!?" Rosalie all but yelled.

"I don't know what you're-"

"I wanna know, and I wanna know _now!_" She was shouting now, so furious Emmet could all but see steam coming out of her ears. Eyes widening, he took a step back, preparing to bolt. He had never felt more like a deer in the headlights.

"I- I-" Emmet couldn't even complete his thought, his dark head looking around frantically. If only he hadn't pushed her so far…

"Tell. Me. Right. _NOW!_" Rosalie advanced further, in a rage. She was passed irate and one step away from tantrum. Her dark-lashed eyes burned with intensity, and her golden hair blew around her as if as angry as she was.

"Because I like you!" Emmet's volume matched hers, but not his tone. Immediately his hands clapped over his mouth as if he couldn't believe he had said it. His face was red and blotchy. Rosalie had stopped moving forward, shock filling her eyes where the fury had been. She was almost paralyzed with shock. _Now_ he bolted, having seen his opening.

Rosalie went back to her thought days before and edited it:

Boys aren't weird; they're _freaks!_

**When I was seven this one boy put worms down my shirt as a gesture of affection… wait, no, I was thirteen…**


	5. Toys

**Sorry for being late, enjoy the delayed chapter! To clear it up, the twi-kids have remnants of their special abilities; i.e. Jasper is sensitive to emotions, Edward is insightful as to what others are thinking, Alice has strong intuition (maybe more seeing as she was psychic as a human.) I don't own Twilight.**

Jasper Hale smiled to himself, sunlight glinting off his fair head in a rare display of good weather in Forks. He was very aware of the tiny form hovering over him, but he wouldn't say anything until Alice did.

If he was being honest with himself, he liked the audience as he played with his soldiers. Rosalie was the drama queen in his family, and thus warranted most of the attention; it was a nice for someone to take interest in him for a change.

Besides, he did love his army men. He'd salvaged the beat-up tin soldiers from the basement just days before his family moved; they had been his fathers, and Jasper considered them treasures.

Suddenly, a small, quick hand reached down, pulling up one of the soldiers. Jasper looked up to see a set of wide, playful green eyes framed by long lashes as inky black as the short, sticky-up hair above them.

"Got your toy," Alice declared, grinning. Jasper grinned back as there was no malice in her face or Cheshire-Cat smile, just the same playfulness constantly dancing in her eyes. Jasper had never seen anyone who looked more like a fairy. In his opinion, she was even prettier than Rosalie- not that he'd ever say it. Though, admittedly, the pixie-effect was marred slightly by the polka-dotted headband adorning her choppy black hair.

"Give it back!" Jasper, having decided to play along, cried as passionately as he could manage.

"Gotta catch me first," and with that, Alice darted off. Jasper stared after her, stunned that such a small, fragile-looking girl could move so fast. Then, getting over his initial shock, Jasper dashed after her.

Alice's trilling giggles floated back to him as she twisted and weaved through crowds of shouting children. Jasper found himself laughing along, his own slim legs pumping as he pursued her, coming so close but always having her flit out of reach at the last second.

Finally, Alice disappeared into a small hole in the bushes. Jasper dove in after her, a tighter fit for him, but he still made it into the little hideaway hole inside the foliage.

For a few seconds the two just lay there, laughing at nothing in particular and catching their breath. Dappled light flickered off of them through the holes between the leaves. The space was secret, and just big enough for the two children. Then, Alice went silent, and Jasper felt the immediate atmosphere become slightly heavier.

"Alice?" Jasper questioned tentatively, "You okay?"

"Fine," came the short reply.

"You're sad, I can tell." Jasper wasn't sure how, but he could.

"I'm just-" Alice began, pausing for the word, "nervous, 'bout school."

"What about it?" Jasper hadn't really given a thought toward it; school in Forks would be lame and boring, same as his old one.

"Well, everyone'll be friends already, and I'll be new." Alice bit her lip, she had never _really_ had that butterfly feeling in a negative way, but now it was catching up with her big time.

"Ally," Jasper tried to think of the _right _words, but ended up just blurting his thoughts out, "I don't know _anybody_ who wouldn't want to be friends with you, and, besides, we'll be new together." At this, Alice turned her face to him again, clouds clearing as a smile illuminated her round face.

"Thanks Jazzy," She said, and Jasper had never thought that awful nick-name would ever sound as good as when Alice said it. Then, she leaned over and gave him a quick peck on the cheek with her small, soft lips. "C'mon, let's do something!" Her effervescent energy had clearly returned, and without waiting, rushed out of their hideaway. Jasper smiled to himself before jumping up after her.

It was sometime later that Jasper realized his toy soldier had been left in the bushes. He had already started off to get it, but then he glimpsed Alice's face, shining with joy and innocence, and decided it could wait until tomorrow.


	6. First Kiss

**Thank you all so much for the awesome reviews! You guys are why I keep writing this. Yes, you should feel important. I hope to get another chapter up after this one before next Thursday 'cause I'm going to Ireland then for Spring Break. If I can't, well, you'll know why the chapter after this will take forever. Anyway, enough of my babbling, enjoy the ExB!**

Over the course of the week, Bella and Edward had met up every day at the park. They spent their hours together playing, laughing, and talking about anything and everything that came into their heads. Bella had never known someone who was as interested in her as Edward, nor had she ever met anyone as interesting.

He was different from any other boy, any other kid her age. Edward had said he'd been home-schooled in his old town; maybe that made him different. Still, Bella liked to think Edward's sweet politeness was all his own, that he had been born with it.

After a particularly harrowing day of first grade in which icky Lauren had dunked Bella's chocolate locks in bright yellow paint, it felt wonderful to be on the playground with Edward again, him pushing her on the swing.

Bella was content to just drift, enjoying the swishing-swaying motion as she was propelled back and forth, until a thought hit her smack on the head like one of Mikey Newton's paper airplanes.

"Why don't you ever come to school?" Bella asked suddenly, breaking the comfortable silence that had elapsed between the two children. Edward shrugged from behind her, but because Bella couldn't see that from her swing, he said,

"My family just moved here from Alaska," Edward's voice floated up to Bella, "we're still unpacking and stuff."

"Alaska?" Bella questioned excitedly, "Like penguins, and polar bears, and Eskimos?"

_Wait… is that Alaska, or is it Antarctica? _Bella wondered to herself,_ Whatever, they're both faraway, cold, and begin with an "A"_

"Not exactly," came the reply. Bella could hear Edward's chuckle from behind her and knew he was smiling his now familiar crooked smile. Bella swiveled on the seat, hoping to catch a glimpse of that smile, those bottle-green eyes shining with mirth… This was a big mistake. Bella's sudden shift immediately caused her to lose her balance, and she toppled from the swing, dropping like a stone.

For a horrid few seconds she could feel herself in the air, the wind whistling in her ears as she plummeted. Then came the landing. Bella hit the ground hard on her hands and knees, pain shooting up her arms and legs.

Bella sucked in a deep breath; she didn't want to cry like a baby, especially not in front of Edward. What if he thought she was a wimp?

To Bella's embarrassment, Edward was at her side instantaneously, looking horrified.

Are you okay?" Edward cried, his striking eyes wide with shock and horror, "I'm so sorry!" Bella nodded a response to his question, biting her lip to hold back the traitorous tears. She didn't want Edward to feel guilty, it was her fault anyway. The shame written on his face told Bella that Edward felt differently.

"Not your fault," She got out, still trying valiantly not to cry, "happens all the time."

_It doesn't hurt, it doesn't hurt, it doesn't hurt,_ Bella chanted in her head, as if she said it enough it would make the fact true.

"Your knees are all shredded!" Edward ignored her previous statement, trying frantically to think of a way to help his newest friend. "Whenever I get hurt my mommy kisses the cut and makes it better," Edward said thoughtfully. With that the ginger-headed boy did something remarkable, he bent down and kissed both of Bella hurting knees.

Bella's eyes opened wide at the touch of Edward's lips, enjoying the brief sensation more than she probably should.

"All better?" Edward asked the still astounded Bella. He grinned as he stood up.

"Yeah," Bella replied, also standing, "but Edward?"

"Yeah?"

"My lips kinda hurt too," Bella smiled shyly. Edward smiled back before leaning over to peck her lightly on the lips. Both children giggled, a bit nervously.

"They're all better now." Bella's grin stayed firmly in place, and her chestnut eyes continued to glow even as the first drops of crimson blood fell from her still un-bandaged knees.


	7. Vote

**Alright, I know everyone hates these things, but here's the deal. I'm going to be in Ireland for the next two weeks (as mentioned in the last chapter) and I'm going to write a few new chapters. As it is, I have one more chapter planned and written, but after that I'm not sure exactly where to go. So, if you would please be kind enough to vote on one of these options, they'll all be posted eventually, but which do you want to see first?**

**Choices are:**

**Carlisle x Esme (as kids, of course)**

**Chapter with little Jacob**

**Chapter with little James and an OC of mine (this would lead to a *gasp* actual story line)**


	8. Great Friends

**PLEASE READ!!! **

**Alright, so I'm finally back and ready to write! Yay! You guys are awesome, this is my most popular story so far, and I can't tell you how happy I am. Anyway, the votes are in! The chapter after this one will feature little Jacob, after that I'll do CarlislexEsme, then I'll do another little James one. I'll probably have an EmmetxRosalie in their too. Anyway, enjoy the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight, I do however own a poster of the Nomads and an Edward Cullen Christmas stocking =]**

Alice's green eyes, so similar to those of her twin brother, swept the park for her new friend Jasper. After a moment, she sighed in disappointment.

"I guess I'll go play with Eddie," she mumbled to herself. Like Alice, Edward didn't have many friends while they were in Alaska. Eddie preferred to be alone. It wasn't long before she spotted his bronze head, and when she did, she got the shock of her young life: Eddie, anti-social Eddie, was kissing a girl! The brown haired girl looked about his and Alice's age, pretty, with deep eyes, pale skin, and pink cheeks. Alice's twin drew back and the two giggled, and Alice could see now that the girl's fair knees were marred with drying blood.

"They're all better now," the girl said. It was at this moment that Alice got the better of her shock and squealed; loudly. The two other children turned abruptly to look at her, looking like deer caught in the headlights, to look at her, both turning a rather vivid shade of red.

"Ed-dies got a girl-friend!" Alice sang gleefully, unable to pass up the chance to completely humiliate her brother.

"Do not!" Eddie protested, rosy embarrassment changing to nearly purple anger at the black-haired annoyance he called his sister.

"Eddie and his girlfriend, sittin' in-a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" The emerald-eyed girl continued, undeterred by her brother's mortification.

"Be _quiet _Ally!" Edward pleaded desperately, clamping his hands over his ears as if this would make her stop. Instead, finished with her chant, Alice ignored him completely and turned to Bella.

"Oh my gosh! This is so great! I know we're gonna be great friends, we can have sleepovers and everything! My name's Ally, What's yours?" Alice bubbled. Bella just blinked, astonished by how long the overexcited pixie had just talked without breathing.

"Bella…" She said finally, slightly intimidated by the Ally's sheer effervescence.

"That's a pretty name, I like it." Came the immediate response, "I'm Eddie's sister by the way." She added. Edward, who had been covering his face with his hand in sheer humiliation, turned to Bella and whispered:

"We're not _really _related, Alice is an alien from Planet _Weird_" Edward looked straight at Alice as he said this. Alice stuck her tongue out;

"Well if I'm from Planet Weird, _you_ came from Uranus," Alice shot back, flashing a brilliant smile at Bella when she giggled. Bella grinned back,

"Great friends," she repeated.


	9. Mutual Acquaintences

**Alright! Now for the chapter you voted for! I feel like I didn't do very well on this one, but I hope you like it anyway. REVIEW!**

**  
**"NO!" The six-year-old brunette shook her head frantically, there was a lot she would put up with, but _this_ crossed the line.

"Bella, it's for your own good, now stay _still_!" Alice narrowed her green eyes in concentration, changing her position as her new friend ducked and weaved away from her.

"Nuh-uh, no way!" Bella regarded the collection of sparkly, colorful plastic and nylon in Alice's tiny hands with fear; clippies, hair bands, and ponytail holders in various colors and cutesy shapes were things Bella just didn't _do_.

"Oh, come on!" Alice pouted, looking so completely pitiful that one without any prior Alice-experience was guaranteed to give her whatever she wanted. Even Bella, who knew so much better by now, felt herself caving. "Please, please, please? Your hair is so pretty! I just want to play with it!" Alice's turned the full power of her "Bambi-Eyes" on her reluctant friend.

"Just leave Bella _alone_, Ali," Edward looked at his twin sister with annoyance, "She doesn't want a makeover, 'sides, she doesn't need it, she's pretty already." Alice rolled her eyes, _Boys_, she thought to herself, _they just don't get it_.

"Well," Alice said out loud, noting Bella's bright red cheeks, flushed from the unexpected compliment, "she doesn't need any blush at least."

"Shut up," Bella mumbled, staring down at her shoes that had suddenly become very interesting. The shoes in question were simple tan converse, scuffed and dirty from much wear; honest hard-working shoes. They were very different from Alice's red, glitter-covered flats that made her look like Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz; the movie-stars of the shoe world.

"Just joking!" Alice grinned, "you gotta learn to take a joke Bella- Bella?" Alice tilted her black head as Bella gasped, chocolate eyes widening, before dashing off." Alice, always curious darted after her to the front of the playground where a slightly younger boy had just entered.

"Jakey!" Bella cried as she reached the boy, throwing her pale arms around his tanned ones. The boys dark eyes widened in surprise,

"Great… Bells… but… can't… breathe!" He choked out, smiling despite the fact that he was being suffocated. Bella released him and they both burst out laughing.

"I haven't seen you in forever!" Bella exclaimed, thrilled to see her friend after two long, long weeks.

"My dad told you," Jacob shrugged, "I had 'Chicken Pox'" He made a face, showing exactly how he felt about his previous ailment.

"Ick," Bella made a face of her own, "I had those once, they weren't nearly as funny as they sounded."

"I know!" The shaggy-haired boy shuddered in memory, "there weren't any birds at all! Not even eggs!" At this point Alice, who had just caught up, unexpectedly threw her tiny arms around the boy.

"Not that I mind being hugged by random girls," Jacob, still in shock, said, "but- why?" Alice shrugged.

"Bella hugged you, so I did too," the small girl spoke as though this were the most obvious thing in the world.

"This is Alice," Bella explained, "she really likes hugging people." Jacob nodded slowly, still confused by Alice's odd behavior, "You get used to it," Bella added. Alice just grinned. It was at this point that Edward's bronze head appeared in the cluster of children,

"Why did you guys just run off? Alice, you know you're not supposed to-" He paused, just noticing the five-and-a-half-year-old standing before him, "Black?" He demanded incredulously.

"Cullen?" Jacob asked, eyes widening. Then, Bella and Edward turned to face each other and asked at the same time,

"You know each other?"


	10. The Story

**Hey everybody, sorry for the horribly long wait for this update, I've been really tied up with things at school, but now I'm free for summer and ready to write! So, on with the story, eh?**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight. At all.**

*** * ***

As the two children stared each other down on the playground, forest eyes meeting deep brown, it became obvious that their past with each other was not pleasant, the glares said it all. The girls watched them, waiting for one of the boys to speak, but they stood silent as statues, offering no explanation for their shared animosity.

"Must be a guy thing," Alice whispered, leaning her dark head over towards her friend. Bella nodded slowly in agreement, wondering how two of her best friends, Edward and Jacob, knew each other at all, let alone dislike each other so much,

"_How_ do you know each other," Bella repeated more loudly, hoping to stop the strange staring match because, frankly, this was getting weird.

"Summer camp," the bronze haired boy said bitterly, shifting his attention to the pretty, pale girl before him,

"Yeah, summer camp," the younger boy agreed, match Edward's tone in sourness. Suddenly, Alice and Bella had the feeling that this was going to be a long story.

The tale that followed was interesting, but became garbled as the two boys spent a lot of the time talking, or rather yelling, over each other (and at each other). From what the attentive girls could get out of it there had been arm pinching, puddle pushing, lanyard breaking, hair cutting, itching powder, and over all meanness. There had also seemed to have been quite a few small animals involved in this small summer-long war; spiders in cereals, chipmunks in pants, frogs in bunks, and, strangest of all, a creature in Jacob's cabin that may or may not have been Sasquatch.

"... And you started it Black," Edward finished indignantly.

"Nuh-uh Cullen, you did!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did-"

"_Zip it!_" Alice cried finally, when it looked like the young boys were about to come to blows over the argument, "I think you're both silly."

"Yeah, 'sides, you guys are both my friends, and that means you have to be friends by-- by--" Bella struggled for the word, it was big and math-y and she only knew it 'cause it was on some weird game show her mom liked to watch, "by Tangelo Property," Bella finished proudly, feeling very smart, especially with the utterly confused stares of her three friends who, for some strange reason, had always thought that a "tangelo" was a fruit... I guess you learn something new every day.

**As always, I hope you liked the chapter, sorry it's kinda short. Anyway, you know the drill! Press the pretty button with green lettering directly below this text.**


	11. If You Fall

**Here's the next chapter guys, gotta love the EmmetxRosalie! Hope you like, PLEASE REVIEW!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of its characters, nor do I own the Power Rangers.**

* * *

The sandbox was Rosalie's favorite spot on the playground, Emmet knew that because that's where they'd been all day, every day for the past week. Sand was fine and everything, but Emmet was getting bored.

"C'mon Rose," Emmet said, using the nick-name that only he could get away with, "let's go on the monkey bars!"

"I don't wanna," Rosalie said, not even looking up from her sand castle as she used her fingers to carefully give the structure a scallop trim.

Emmet rolled his eyes; Rosalie could be such a princess sometimes! It was days like these when Emmet found himself feeling sorry for Jasper, Rosalie's brother. He was starting to realize why the boy was shy, he never got a chance to say anything!

Still, while Emmet was completely incapable of understanding Rosalie (or girls in general for that matter), he was also infinitely amazed by everything about her, and he wasn't even sure he wanted to understand.

"We can't just do everything you want to do," Emmet reasoned, and before Rosalie had a chance to inform him that, yes, as a matter of fact they could, he continued, "'Sides, the monkey bars are really fun!"

"But what if I fall?" Rosalie asked, looking up at Emmet, anxiety apparent in her voice. Emmet laughed, earning himself a sour, slightly hurt look from Rosalie, causing him to quiet down and explain himself."

"Everybody falls," Emmet elaborated quickly for fear of another fist full of sand in his face, "it doesn't matter."

"But if I fall I'll get my clothes all dirty," Rosalie argued, her voice a little higher than normal, "my daddy just got me this dress!" Emmet was completely confused,

"So?" Nope, he didn't get girls at all.

"So if I rip it or get dirt on it he'll be mad at me!" Rosalie was getting increasingly distraught, "and what if I mess up my hair?"

"It's okay Rose, look how dirty my clothes are! My parents don't care," Emmet grinned, displaying the rips in his jeans and the mud smearing his Power Rangers shirt. Rosalie cracked a smile.

"Yeah, and your hair's a wreck too."

"Well I wouldn't call it a wreck--" Emmet broke off has Rosalie's hand came up and ruffled his dark hair until it was an unruly mess.

"Now it is!" She smiled deviously.

"I guess it is," Emmet smiled, making no attempt to flatten his mussed hair, "so can we go on the monkey bars now? Pleeease?"

"I guess," Rosalie murmured, smile vanishing, "but... what if I fall? I could get hurt?" Rosalie frowned, starting to worry again. Emmet just smiled at her,

"If you fall Rose, I'll be there to catch you."

"Okay," Rosalie smiled back at him with shaky confidence, "let's go."

* * *

**So, what are you waiting for?! Review!**


	12. Knowing

**Heya guys, I have the next chapter here a little earlier than usual because I'm going on vacation for the next few weeks, plenty of time to do more writing! I'll put up another chapter right when I come back.**

**On another note, sorry for the misspelling of "Emmett" in the previous chapter, I got a new writing program and it automatically changed the name, won't happen again.**

**Enjoy this chapter and review!**

*** * ***

Every single day for the past few weeks, Jasper had shaken his sister Rosalie awake so they could _get to the playground already!_ He couldn't remember ever being so excited to leave his morning cartoons to hang around a bunch of brightly colored plastic, but Jasper supposed that it all depended on who you were with.

Strangely enough, Rosalie only very rarely bit her brother's head off over these rude awakenings, and Jasper could only assume that his sister had made a friend too. In fact, when he thought about it, Rosalie had been weirdly happy lately, even after her near explosive reaction to the move.

"Wake up Rosey Posey," Jasper laughed, making sure he was out of hitting range as he said this since he was using Rosalie's most hated nick-name EVER. Rosalie's eyes, blue and faintly purple like lapis lazuli shot open.

"Never call me that! Ever ever ever ever _ever!_ I _mean_ it Jasper Hale, or I will _kill_ you!" This was expected of course, calling her Rosey Posey was a trigger for disaster, and Rosalie did _not_ like to be woken from her beauty sleep.

Jasper was suddenly very glad he had opted to keep such a vast distance between Rosalie and himself. Seeing Rosalie bolt out of bed in her Disney princess pajamas, he was struck by inspiration,

"If you wanna kill me you have to catch me first!" And with that Jasper took off down the stairs, and, admittedly, the safety of his parents' presence.

* * *

At the park at last, Jasper breathed a sigh of relief. It hadn't taken long to get out of the house even after a long chase, parental intervention, and a lengthy time out for both of the Hale children that ended in an incredibly insincere apology.

However, now he was free of the Royal Pain, as he liked to call her, and no longer had to fear for his life. Now, for more important matters: Alice. Unable to spot the tiny dark head of his pixie-like friend, Jasper was not discouraged, as there was one final, important place to look.

Even though he had only been there one time before, Jasper was sure he could find the Secret Place in his sleep. He did his best army crawl through the bushes before finding his and Alice's little hidey-hole, the tiny, almost magical place that Alice had showed him not to long ago, a seemingly sacred secret only between the two of them.

Although Alice was not there, there were people waiting for him-- tiny people made of tin, that is, his soldiers! They were all lined up, shoulder to shoulder, in a row, baring there tiny weapons and wearing... dresses?

Each soldier was clothed in brightly colored fabric; stripes, polka-dots, plaids, and solids, making the rugged toys look disturbingly cheerful and, well, just plain wrong. This was Alice's work, but where--

"Jazzy!" And like that Alice dropped from above him and, not giving Jasper any time to even process this, dug her fingers into his ribs; an unrelenting tickle attack.

"Ack!... Alice... stop" Jasper barely got out between bursts of laughter, cursing himself for revealing to Alice the fact that he was ticklish.

"Make me!" Alice laughed, going for the neck now, but this was a mistake. Jasper quickly ducked his head and used the opportunity to grab his attacker and inflict his own barrage of tickling. Alice's laughter was high and trilling, music to Jasper's ears,

"How do you like it?" He asked triumphantly, but Alice was small and quick, and she managed to wriggle out of Jasper's grip, nimbly sliding away towards the foliage,

"I win!" She cried, and Jasper turned around, perplexed,

"Why do you win?"

"I win," Alice's gem green eyes were cool, "because I have a stick," to illustrate this point she waved one of the loose branches she had probably pulled from one of the bushes.

"So you do," Jasper considered taking his own branch, but he didn't particularly want to get into a sword fight just now, mainly because he couldn't even stand up properly in the space and instead decided to change the subject, "were you hiding on top of those bushes?"

"Yup!" Alice declared proudly, "pretty smart, huh?" She looked at Jasper for approval, she had thought it'd been a good idea, and it certainly had surprised him! It was the tin soldiers that had inspired her, really, the ones that were crouching low or lying down with their weapons, she had figured if you could attack from low on the ground, you could attack from up above, and she had even worn camo-print for the occasion.

"Definitely," Jasper grinned, "brilliant sneak attack, there's a real strategist in you!" Alice's face lit up at the complement,

"You think so?"

"Absolutely, one question though," Jasper's brow furrowed, "how'd you know for sure I was gonna be here, sometimes I swear you're psychic or something!" He was joking, but Alice regarded him seriously,

"I don't need to know the future Jazzy,"she looked up at her friend earnestly, "I just know you."


	13. The Beach

**I'm sorry I've dropped off the face of the earth for a whole month, but there was vacation... then English work... then Regent study... but I'm back! And now I am going to update every week! Yay!**

**~*~**

Forks had undergone a strange phenomenon, something that had kids in a frenzy, backyards crammed, and beaches in veritable chaos; it was called sunlight. In a sort of miracle, for just one day, the omnipresent cloud covering opened up, allowing pure golden sunlight to shine through the thick woods and sandy beaches of the little town like a huge lamp.

Like all of the other children, Bella Swan was rejoicing in this event, perhaps appreciating it more than anybody; she hated all the dreary gray, and everything seemed so much prettier all lit up!

Bella looked over the crowded beach, full of laughing, pushing children, running barefoot over the sand and splashing and diving in the green-blue water. Her mother and father sat on a striped beach blanket somewhere among all of the other parents and sunbathing teenagers, no doubt watching her with eagle eyes as she headed for the water.

Now, lathered up with layers upon layers of heavy duty sunscreen, Bella was knee deep in the gently lapping waters of La Push, nearing Edward and Alice who were closely engaged in some sort of water-tag-pseudo-wrestling game, laughing and yelling.

"Hi guys!" Bella cried upon reaching them, instantaneously breaking up the increasingly frenzied game.

"Bella!" Alice nearly screamed, making her brother clap his pale hands over his ears, "I knew you'd be here soon! Told ya so, Eddy."

"Ally, everybody's here today, in case you haven't noticed," he pointed out to his sister, and then he turned around completely to face the new arrival, "Hi Bella," and a faint pink tinged his cheeks, making Bella blush an even deeper red.

"Oooh! Lovebirds!" Alice squealed before suddenly ducking and disappearing underwater. Bella blinked,

"Where's she go?"

"I don't know," Edward said, scratching his bronze head, "I think Alice is part dolphin."

The two children watched for an instant, and Bella saw Edward growing more and more anxious until a little dark head popped up quite a ways away from them, and Edward sighed with relief.

"I should watch her," Edward murmured; his sister could be annoying, but she was also one of the sweetest, most loving people Edward knew, and she was just so small... and if anything happened to her...

"Looks like she found a friend," Bella pointed out as Ally made her way gracefully over to a little blond boy in camouflage swim trunks, but inwardly Bella was touched by the the way her friend thought about his sister.

"Yeah, that's Jasper," Edward informed the Bella, "he'll take care of her."

Edward liked Jasper; he was quiet and sort of shy, but he was also smart and brave and cared a lot about Alice.

"So what do you want to do?" Bella asked, "'cause I could show you the tide pools, and they're all full of fish and pretty shells and stuff like that, they're really neat!"

"That'd be great, I'd like that," but Edward didn't move; he just kept looking at her with those green, green eyes.

"Well come on, silly!" Bella giggled.

"Oh, right" Edward flashed his crooked grin, "lead the way," and that light pink invaded his face again.

_What's the big idea,_ Bella wondered,_ I thought **I **was the blusher here!_

And then Edward took her hand, causing her face to turn scarlet before she smiled up at him.


	14. The Beach 2

**Alrighty then, as promised, I'm back with another chapter. I'm continuing with the beach thing cause it's cute and summery. Hope you like! Please review!!**

~*~

"Alice?"

Jasper frantically searched the water around him for the little pixie, but he couldn't spot her anywhere. Already the blond boy was shifting into panic mode; how long could someone hold their breath anyway?

Seeing a flash of pink shimmering in the water, Jasper dove for it, submerging himself in the chilly water. The boy resurfaced, only to find himself clutching a large pinkish conch. He blinked a few times to clear the sting of salty water out of his gray-blue eyes.

Jasper's eyes were just readjusting to the light when, suddenly, Alice resurfaced right in front of him, squirting a steady stream of water right into his face.

"Gah!" Jasper cried, stumbling backwards into the water as he wiped his face with both hands. In front of him, Alice giggled, gleaming wet in the sun in her ruffly pink one piece, her dark hair in two short, messy pigtails.

"I'm a dolphin!" She declared gleefully, falling back into the water and kicking her feet.

"Oh yeah?" Jasper picked himself up and grinned evilly, "Well I'm a shark!"

Gnashing his teeth playfully, Jasper dove straight for a squealing Alice, managing to grab her around her ruffled stomach. Jasper was amazed by how light the tiny girl was in his arms as he pulled her up out of the water.

"Ack! Stop Stop!" Alice cried, but she was laughing hard as Jasper swung her around and pitched her into the briny water.

Jasper's smile faded as he waited for Alice to come back up.

_Oh no, not again! _He thought in dismay, suddenly terrified that maybe she had hit her head or something when he'd thrown her, _Maybe she just loves scaring me,_ also likely.

Then, as suddenly as before, Alice popped up in front of him and thrust out her palm,

"I found a hermit crab!" Alice informed him cheerfully, and for a moment Jasper could only stare.

* * *

"Come _on,_ Rosalie," Emmett whined, shifting from foot to foot as he waited for the stubborn girl to see reason.

"No way!" Rosalie said, not even removing her sunglasses to look at him.

"What are you even _doing_?" The dark haired boy demanded, not quite sure why his friend seemed to enjoy lying on a towel so much; it seemed boring to him.

"Tanning," Rosalie said out of the side of her mouth, not sure what was so hard to understand about it.

"You can _tan _in the water," Emmett pointed out, "You can _tan_ doing anything if it's sunny out!" Rosalie didn't even bother to answer, making Emmett pout.

"Besides," the boy continued, "You probably can't tan anyway, you're so pale, you'll burn!" He poked her in the ribs in hopes of earning a reaction, but he didn't, "Whatever, I'm leaving."

Rosalie opened one violet-blue eye, seeing that Emmett was, in fact, gone. Now she felt bad, she hadn't meant to drive him off, but she really wanted to sunbathe! She sighed, straightening the top of her red bikini. She would go play with Emmett later, and she would apologize, really! She would! And that was a big deal for her, and it was a real testament to how much she liked him.

The pretty blonde had just fully relaxed, enjoying the warm rays of the sun, when she had the sickening (quickly becoming familiar) feeling of something slimy on her leg. Reacting immediately, Rosalie's eyes flew open as she kicked wildly to get god-knows-what off of her leg. In front of her, grinning maniacally, Emmett dangled another dripping piece of seaweed.

"Ew! Get that _away_ from me!" Rosalie cried, and Emmett tossed the gunk over his shoulder as Rosalie continued to rant, "and what is it with you and putting slimy stuff on me, huh?"

"It gets your attention, that's for sure," Emmett said, still smiling, "you look like a mermaid," he added suddenly, before Rosalie could get angry again.

"Oh," Rosalie was unsure of what to say, so Emmet asked,

"Wanna go make sandcastles? I know how much you like 'em."

"Well--" Rosalie stopped before smiling, "Sure, I'd love to."

And the two children walked happily down the the water's edge to begin construction.


	15. VERY IMPORTANT AN!

**VERY IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE! PLEASE READ!!!!!**

**Okay, Good news! As of next week I am officially returning to my fics, Yay!**

**HOWEVER, due to the nature of this story, I will not be updating this regularly, or even writing new chapters to it, BUT WAIT! DON'T GO AWAY!**

**This story is now dependent on you guys! Either leave a review or PM me an idea for a chapter. It can be very vague, like for instance, you can say you want an Alice/Jasper chapter involving the slide, or you can let me choose the pairing. You can also be specific if you want. You can be specific as well. Also, I'm not just limited to pairings; you can ask for friendship chapters between, the boys or the girls or whatever! So please! Leave an idea, any idea, and I will write it!**

**Sorry for the inconvenience, but I think it will work better this way.**

**Happy Halloween!**


	16. Summer Evening

**Okay, First update since the summer, so I'm sorry if I'm a little rusty. If you read the AN (if not, READ IT!) than you know there's a new system here, so this is the trial run.**

**This idea was suggested by Unique Yet Simple, who wanted a Bella/Edward chapter that involved ice cream. Hope you like!**

**~*~**

The sun was already a quarter of a way beneath the horizon when the man with the giant ice cream cone on his head handed the children their treats. It was late summer, and the night was warm and sticky; perfect weather for a little early dessert, Bella thought. She and Edward had been the first two to the ice cream truck, abandoning their activities at the first hint of that well-known, tinkling fairy music.

Brown and emerald eyes were wide as the truck's operator handed them their cones, distantly wondering how his ridiculous hat didn't slam against the roof of the truck whenever he moved.

"Extra sprinkles!" Bella reminded him loudly. She didn't care that the addition was an extra fifteen cents-- the colorful sugary bits were worth it. Once her vanilla swirl was satisfactorily coated, she and Edward paid for their cones and relocated to an unoccupied bench on the edge of the park.

For a while, the two ate silently, their legs dangling over the edge of the bench.

"Your ice cream's green," Bella informed Edward once she had eaten all the sprinkles off the outside of her cone.

"It's mint chocolate chip," Edward explained, the still setting sun slanting off his bronze hair.

"Is it good?" Bella wondered.

"Who cares, it's green!" At this, they both broke off into a little fit of silly giggling., "Do you wanna try?" Edward held out the ice cream, which had gotten considerably smaller in the passed few moments.

"No thanks, it's green," Bella cracked, and the giggling started up again full-force.

"Well how about yours," Edward asked after a while, "is yours good?"

"It's the best," Bella beamed, "soft ice cream beats the other stuff easy."

"I can't judge," the boy shrugged, "I've never tried it."

"Your missing out," Bella grinned, taking another lick of her ice cream, "big time."

"Not for long!" And with that, Edward lunged forward and made a playful grab for Bella's cone.

"Hey!" She scooted away, laughing, "you could just ask!"

"Fine," Edward placed his hands in his lap to show that there would be no more ice cream-hijacking attempts, "may I please have the tiniest little taste of your ice cream?"

"No way! Boy germs!" Bella laughed and moved even farther away, just in case her friend decided to try any more funny business.

"Pleeease?" Edward clasped his hands together and widened his verdant eyes, reminding Bella of an angel on a Christmas card. Hey, that wasn't fair! He was making it too hard to say no! She focused on gathering her resolve again, taking another fortifying lick of her melting swirl.

"Hmmm..." the girl tilted her head to the side, deep brown hair shifting from her shoulder, "No!" Just to tease him, she took a big bite of the frosty, vanilla goodness.

"Mean," Edward pretended to be hurt, and even though the pout was fake, Bella's heart just about melted.

"Am not!" Bella played along.

"Are too; you don't share," Edward was having a hard time not breaking out in a huge smile.

"I share," Bella defended herself, then grinned, "just not ice cream."

"Well you should share," Edward's voice dropped and became very serious, "don't you know what happens when you don't share?"

Bella opened her mouth to answer before catching the wicked glimmer in his emerald eyes. A few seconds too late, she squealed and dove away,

"This!" Edward ducked down towards the cone.

"Oh no you don't!" Thinking quickly, Bella jerked the cone up, causing Edward's face to collide with the ice cream a little too early.

He blinked, and Bella found herself falling backwards with laughter. The bronze-haired boy now had a dripping white splotch of ice cream covering his nose and most of the area surrounding it.

"You.... Your face.... Ice cream..." Bella was still laughing hard, and as soon as the surprise faded, Edward was laughing with her. Once they had quieted again, Edward grinned mischievously. Bella watched as his tongue shot up and before long cleared the ice cream from his face.

"Ewww!" She squealed, but she was much more impressed than grossed out, "How did you do that?"

"It's one of my many hidden talents," Edward bragged jokingly, and for the fourth time that evening they cracked up laughing.

**~*~**

**Well there you go. I really hope you guys liked it. Keep those suggestions coming!**


	17. A New Player

**Two updates in one week? Yes! It's true! I'm just having too much fun with this suggestion method! **

**This idea came from The Jazzled Author, one of their suggestions being for a Bella/Jasper friendship. Here it is!**

**~*~**

_Smack_

The two children collided heavily, both crying out at the unexpected impact. The blond stumbled back, managing to grab hold of a piece of playground structure so as to prevent himself from falling. Bella, on the other hand, being Bella, pinwheeled backwards rather violently before falling on her butt into a ficus.

Jasper blinked, completely bewildered for an instant before catching sight of a pile of limbs extending from a ficus a little was over.

"Oh!" Instinctively, he hurried over and saw a pretty, brown-haired girl about his age frowning slightly and picking some twigs out of her hair.

"Ow," she muttered distractedly before seeing Jasper standing above her, "Oh, hi," she smiled up at him before remembering her current position and blushing slightly.

Jasper couldn't help grinning back,

"Here, let me..." He grabbed Bella's wrist and helped disentangle her from the shrub.

"Thanks," the girl flashed another bright smile, "I'm Bella, by the way."

"I'm Jasper," the boy returned, recalling seeing Bella with a certain, currently AWOL, pixie from time to time.

"I know," Bella gave him an uncharacteristically sly look, "Alice won't stop talking about you."

Jasper laughed, equal parts surprised and delighted, experiencing a strange tingling feeling in the vicinity of his stomach. Suddenly, he remembered the previous collision. His smile disappeared; he looked down.

"I'm really sorry about that," he murmured, referring to the crash.

"Huh?" Bella gave him a look, then, "Oh, That? Don't worry, it happens all the time... to me, anyway," she waved it off.

Jasper really did feel bad though—it wasn't everyday he sent girls hurtling into ficuses. He had been going down the slide at the time, and then... Bella just sort of appeared.

Bella saw the guilt on the boy's face and frowned; she didn't want Jasper to feel bad on her account

"It's really no problem," she insisted, but she could tell he wasn't comforted, "..._But_, I know how you can make it up to me?"

"How?"

"Do you have anyone to play with?"

Jasper shook his head. Bella beamed,

"Well, I've been playing hide-and-go-seek tag with Edward for _forever_, and I can't find him anywhere. Wanna play?"

"Sure!" Jasper _never_ turned down a game of hide-and-go-seek tag, "don't worry," He grinned confidently, "we'll get him."

"Thanks, Jasper" Bella really was grateful. Jasper smiled before growing serious. He gave a slow scan of the playground, and Bella had to giggle at the intense expression.

"Alright," Jasper said finally, "the way I see it, there are three places he could be hiding. You check the main playground, and I check the outer area; we do recon, then meet back here."

"Yes, sir!" Bella laughed, and they split up.

The two searched thoroughly, but their efforts returned nothing. After a time, they both came back to the assigned meeting place.

"Okay," Jasper said, "well now there's only one place where he can be," he nodded towards the thick, miniature forest of bushes that covered one side of the playground, "We're going in."

"Wait!" Bella stopped him. The brunette reached into the pocket of her jumper, returning with a wand of mascara that Alice had forced upon her several days earlier. Jasper grinned,

"Perfect."

Moments, later, they both had black smears below each eye.

"Alright," Bella effected her most serious expression, "_Now_ we're going in."

Then, with one last grin to each other, the pair dropped on their stomachs and started to army crawl through the vegetation side by side.


	18. Spooky

**Hey, another chapter! I was gonna post it Friday... but it was the 13th, and I didn't want to risk it *sheepish grin* so here it is now. Also, I'm gonna flip the time of year around throughout the story, so depending on the chapter it could be any season.**

**This idea was also suggested by Unique but Simple**

**~*~**

It was a dark and stormy day... but then, so is every day in Forks. Still, today the cloudy sky seemed a little bit darker, and the omnipresent drizzles of rain appeared to hold a bit more foreboding now that Halloween was only a day away.

It was for this reason that the playground was nearly empty, everyone was home making last minute adjustments to their costumes. In fact, Bella and Emmett were practically the only kids in the park, something that had resulted in the two of them spending nearly the whole afternoon together.

Emmett found Bella to be an absolute riot, particularly the way her face could take on the most astonishing shade of red at the drop of a hat, and he had made a game out of provoking this occurrence as much as possible. He was also very amused by the girl's uncanny ability to trip over absolutely nothing and fall in the most hilarious ways.

Needless to say, Bella was not very pleased with his amusement. All the same, she couldn't stay mad at the great teddy bear of a boy for more then a few minutes, and his booming laughter was utterly infectious. Also, Bella quickly discovered that Emmett had a great weakness: very, very ticklish ribs. It was a small detail, but it helped even the playing field a bit. However, Bella only used this knowledge when it was absolutely necessary, because whenever she tried this trick she found herself at risk for an impromptu wrestling match. Not exactly her strong point.

Presently, Bella watched as Emmett tried to show her the proper way to execute a noogie, but she couldn't seem to stop laughing because he was demonstrating on a giant plastic inch worm that had a nasty habit of careening about on its spring as Emmett tried to keep it still. Very quickly, the demonstration turned into a miniature battle, but after a few moments the inch worm emerged the conqueror.

"Stupid overgrown caterpillar," Emmett grumbled, casting one last glare at the lime green chunk of playground equipment.

"Don't worry, I'm sure you could've taken it if it didn't have the spring," Bella was half teasing, half consoling.

Emmett scowled at the inch worm again, "It's gotta be mutant or something. I mean, do you see how _big_ it is? And no inch worm is _that_ smiley."

"Yeah..." Now that Bella looked carefully at the seemingly harmless worm, there was something vaguely creepy about it, "maybe it fell into toxic waste or something, like those Ninja... things."

"Ninja _Turtles_," Emmett corrected exasperatedly. Clearly this girl wasn't watching as much Saturday morning TV as she should be.

"Right. Of course," Bella just wasn't up on her superhero shows.

"I was gonna be Michelangelo—you know, the orange one—for Halloween, but then I changed my mind," Emmett went on, trying to sneak some TMNT knowledge into Bella's cartoon-turtle deprived mind.

"Ooh, what _are_ you going to be?" Bella couldn't believe that she hadn't asked yet.

"I'm gonna be a monster," Emmett declared proudly, "it's totally awesome! Like a cross between Frankenstein, the Wolfman, and the Creature from the Black Lagoon."

He then shambled forward and gave some combination of a groan, a howl, and a hiss.

"You sound sick," Bella teased as the "monster" advanced, taking a swipe that mussed up her hair.

"It's a work in progress," Emmett shrugged, smiling his dimpled smile, "so what are _you_ going to be?"

"I'm going as Little Red Riding Hood," Bella told him; the story had always been one of her favorites, and it was an easy costume to assemble.

At this, Emmett snorted incredulously, "But _that's_ not scary!" He proclaimed, laughing.

Bella only shrugged, unbothered, "Maybe I don't like scary."

Now Emmett's eyes widened, "You don't like..." He mouthed the words, then shook his head sharply before tugging at Bella's arm, "Come on."

"What are we doing?" Bella asked curiously.

Emmett laughed, "We're having a Halloween party! Come on!"

About ten minutes later, the two children were sitting Indian-style across from each other inside the miniature domed jungle gym set up for the really little kids. Emmett had draped a picnic blanket from his parents' car over the little dome, encasing the pair in complete darkness besides the single flash light sitting between them. Emmett grinned mischievously, the light of the flashlight making his face ghoulish in the dark,

"Scary story time."

And then Emmett began. The story started out as one his dad had told him once, but then he forgot some, and then he remembered parts of others stories, and then he made a bunch of stuff up. It didn't matter; Bella watched him with wide, transfixed eyes, taking in every lurid detail of the story.

"And then she looked around, worm-eaten eyes staring wide, and she said," Emmett distorted his voice, "_Who took my money? Who took my money?_" Then, suddenly, the boy lurched forward and grabbed Bella's arm, "_YOU DID!"_

Bella shrieked, making Emmett fall backwards with laughter; for the longest time he couldn't even breath. Finally, he managed to stop, but then he caught Bella's face in the light of the tipped over flashlight, setting him off on another laughter fit. Bella made an indignant noise and whacked Emmett's arm but only succeeded in hurting her hand, making Emmett laugh even harder.

**~*~**

**Review!**


	19. Retaliation

**Hey guys, sorry this one took a little longer. I'm going through a bit of a hard time in my life right now, but hopefully it'll start getting better tomorrow, either way, the chapters may take a little bit longer now. **

**Okay! Enough of my whining! This idea was suggested by Neverknownfuture, and it is basically a sequel to the last chapter. Enjoy and Review!**

**~*~**

"You are a genius,"the dark-haired girl sitting on the edge of the porcelain white bath tub shook her head in awe and disbelief, "an evil genius."

The other girl shrugged, looking a little embarrassed, "I don't like to be scared," she mumbled.

"No, no, don't feel bad," Alice grinned mischievously, her emerald eyes sparkling, "I like it."

Bella grinned back, "I just hope it works," she nodded to the concoction prepared in the bathtub.

"We'll get him good," Alice promised, "and we'll have _proof_," she added gleefully, dangling her little sticker-covered Brownie camera.

The two girls were in the Jack-and-Jill bathroom that conjoined Alice's and Edward's rooms, Bella having slept over there after trick-r-treating. It was eleven in the morning, and Alice's parents were out as they had misjudged how long the children would sleep in as a result of the long night and candy coma.

Sunlight spilled through the windows of the bathroom, highlighting the thick, bright green gel that filled the tub. You see, prior that night, Bella had come up with a brilliant plan to get back at a certain dimpled, bear-like boy who had taken it upon himself to terrify her the other day. Before going to sleep, the two girls had poured about fifteen packages of lime gelatin mix into the tub and filled it half with hot water, half with cold water, and let it set. Now, lo and behold, they were faced with an entire bathtub full of green jello. Perfect.

"Hmmmm..." Alice cocked her raven head to the side, "something's missing, isn't it?"

Bella examined the jello, trying to figure out the problem, "It's too..." she trailed off, unable to find the word.

"Perfect," Alice finished, "it's too smooth! It needs to be messier!"

Bella nodded in agreement, then slanted a glance at her friend, "are you thinking what I'm thinking...?"

"Mm-hm," Alice chirped, rolling up her Tinkerbell pajama bottoms. Bella followed suit, and a short while later the jello was a viscous mess of jagged edges and portions oozing over the side of the tub.

"_Now_ it's perfect," Bella smiled, admiring their handiwork.

"Hollywood could not create better toxic waste," Alice agreed. The pixie-girl's face had several stray pieces of jello sticking to it, complimenting the left-over smears of purple make-up and glitter from last night's Cheshire-Cat costume.

"I still don't know why you were the Cheshire Cat and not Alice," Bella mused, recalling the oddness of her friend's costume choice..

Alice looked at her sideways, a twinkle in her jade eyes, "that's just what they would have been expecting," she murmured conspiratorially, making Bella giggle.

"Hey, can I come in?" Called a slightly nervous voice on the other side of the door. Alice's face lit up at the sound, making Bella smile slightly to herself.

"Of course! Get in here Jasper!" Alice cried gleefully. The cream white door opened to reveal a grinning Jasper, who had stayed over in Edward's room the night before.

Bella smiled to herself; when they had been informing Jasper of the plan that morning, she had been unable to keep her eyes away from the other boy, who was fast asleep in his bed, exhausted from Halloween. She couldn't help it! Edward had just looked so...peaceful. With his delicate features at rest and his bronze hair in a lion's mane around his head, he had looked all too much like an angel in one of those old paintings in the museums Bella's mom had dragged her to during her brief "art critic" phase.

"So," Jasper grinned wryly, "how do I look?" The blond was wearing what appeared to be multiple pieces of rough, discolored fabric put through a blender several times before being mashed together into a lumpy sort of suit. The costume had been Alice's original attempt at making her own Raggedy Ann outfit. Needless to say, the result had been disastrous.

"Excellent!" Alice exclaimed, "totally scary, Jazzy," she giggled before looking again at Bella, "like I said, we'll get him good."

Bella was in complete agreement, "Thanks for helping us, Jasper."

"Anything for you two," Jasper's shy smile grew sneaky, "besides, Emmett's got it coming; he's not the _only_ one who can scare people, after all."

"Absolutely," Bella nodded, then, with an uncharacteristically devious grin, "So, everyone ready?"

* * *

About twenty minutes later, the girls were in the McCarthy home under the guise of wanting to trade candy, and Jasper was positioned perfectly within the bush in front of the house. They walked casually up the stairs, smiling politely at Emmett's mother, and then, gathering all of their acting ability, burst into the boy's room.

"Emmett! Emmett!" Bella practically screamed as they shook the bigger boy awake.

"Huh?! Wha?!" Emmett woke with a shock, trying to focus on the panicked faces hovering above him.

"Hurry! Hurry!" Alice shrieked, her verdant eyes shooting from the door to the window.

"Something awful! I don't know what's happening! There's a monster! It's coming!" Bella cried, almost incoherently.

Emmett blinked several times, not quite believing his own ears, "a monster?"

"Yes! Yes!" Bella tried to pull him up.

"Come on! Come on! It can't be too far behind!"

The dark-haired boy wasn't sure what was going on, but he could see that the girls were terrified.

"It's okay," he assured them, more awake now, "come on, we'll get out of here." He hurried to his closet to grab his baseball bat before rushing out the door with both girls behind him.

"I-it's out there," Alice whimpered once they had reached the back door.

Emmett's jaw tightened, "stay behind me, okay?" He edged around the lawn, bat held high. The coast was clear up to the front lawn, causing Emmett to breath a sigh of relief, "Okay, I think we're--"

At that moment, Jasper exploded from the bush in his monstrosity of a costume, centimeters from Emmett.

"M-Muh-MUTANT!!!" Emmett screamed, dropping the bat before tearing away with Alice and Bella close behind.

As planned, Jasper chased the three into Alice's house and up to the bathroom. Emmett stopped and back-pedaled at the tub, eyes widening as he beheld the source of the mutation. The terrified boy tried to move away, but now the mutant was blocking the doorway. He screamed, and a series of bright lights filled his vision before he felt a hard shove at his back, pitching him into the gelatinous goop.

Emmett screamed and screamed until he heard... laughter? He opened his eyes, which had been clamped tightly shut, to see Bella, Alice, and a now identifiable Jasper collapsed against each other laughing hysterically.

Suddenly, Emmett found himself laughing as well, "Oh, good one!" He guffawed, suddenly tasting the lime jello adhering to his face. The other children laughed harder, relieved that he had taken it so well, before Emmett's hand shot out, grabbing Alice's ankle and pulling her into the goo.

"Save the camera!" Alice squealed before plunging into the lime green glop. In an instant of unexpected hand-eye coordination, Bella managed to snatch the camera from the air. During the dive for the camera, however, she skidded over a patch of jello lining the floor, propelling her into the muck and bringing Jasper down with her. The children, now all submerged in the slime, glanced around at each other before bursting out laughing.

Several minutes later, a bleary-eyed Edward opened the bathroom door, only to find four children sitting in a bathtub full of bright green goo.

"Okay, what did I miss?"


	20. Like Magic

**Hey guys! Sorry about the little wait, internet access was down for a few days after some branches fell at my house, I'll do another chapter this week to make up for it.**

**Heh, it's funny how many comments I got on Edward's little line at the end; would you believe that that was never part of the story, and it just popped into my brain right before I uploaded the chapter? I'm glad I put it in! **

**Anyway, this chapter is a request from ****Muzik-Mafia3142 a while back, enjoy and review!**

**~*~**

"This is so weird, it feels like we should have machetes or something," Alice giggled, looking all around herself at the veritable rainforest surrounding them.

"I thought you liked weird," Jasper teased from up ahead, pushing foliage out of the way so Alice could pass freely; he had discovered the little overgrown trail a few days before.

"Are you kidding? I love it!" Alice proclaimed, making Jasper laugh. A few steps later and they had broken through the forest into a little clearing, and Alice gasped,

"It's another playground!"

"Surprise?" Jasper grinned and nearly fell over when Alice tackled him in a hug.

"It's so _pretty!_" The pixie girl looked about with wide jade eyes, taking in everything in complete awe. Jasper smiled to himself, he thought so too, but most kids probably wouldn't. Alice thought the place looked like something out of a fairytale.

This playground was different than the bigger one just a quarter mile away; little things dotted the clearing: a trio of metal horses with rusted springs and mossy manes, a little silver slide with ivy sneaking up its ladder, and a tire swing nestled in a patch of tall wildflowers. The main play structure was receding into the forest, and wisteria crept all over, absorbing it into the wilderness. It was all wood, metal, and magic, with none of the plastic found in most modern playgrounds.

Alice had no idea where to start! Suddenly, her verdant eyes rested on a circular structure on the fringe of the clearing: a little iron merry-go-round, nearly swamped by thick weeds. Immediately, Alice gravitated toward it, with Jasper following close behind. The girl seemed to be in her element here, perfectly at home in this strange, forgotten, mystical realm.

"It's all covered," Alice sighed sadly, pushing ineffectually at the dense reeds.

"Wish we had that machete you were talking about earlier," Jasper agreed grimly. He automatically liked the merry-go-round too, none of the other playgrounds had anything quite like it.

"Yeah..." Alice murmured, her face had fallen, and her eyes were wistful; Jasper felt like someone had just tightened a rope around his heart. Suddenly, the boy sighed, running a hand through his golden hair,

_Only for Alice,_ he thought, reaching into his jean pocket and pulling out the tiny, somewhat dull pocket knife he had gotten for his birthday. Instantly, Alice brightened, and Jasper thought it would be worth the supreme effort of prying out the merry-go-round, because now Alice was looking at him with that same awe as she had the playground before, like he was the moon and stars.

"My hero!" She proclaimed, as Jasper set about the task of liberating the long-abandoned mass of iron.

An eternity later, the merry-go-round was free, and Alice cheered while Jasper tried to steady his breathing—that was much more work than the average six-year-old should ever have to do.

The pair took a moment to observe the structure, as if not believing that Jasper had actually done it. It wasn't magnificent; the once bright, cheery paint was incredibly faded, if present at all, and the titanium bars were blazoned red-orange with multiple coatings of rust, but thick vines crawled from the base outward, curling over the bars and covering spots of rust with little purple-white flowers. To Alice and Jasper, it was the most beautiful thing ever.

Finally, a grin broke out across Jasper's face, "Ladies first," he said with a flourish, motioning to the merry-go-round.

"Thanks Jazzy," Alice said softly, smiling ear-to-ear and giving Jasper a fervent kiss on the cheek before hopping onto the disk.

"Alright," Jasper murmured, then, louder, "Alright, ready to go fast?"

Alice cheered, and that was all Jasper needed. He tugged at the bars with his no-longer-exhausted arms. It was hard work at first, the merry-go-round hadn't been used in ages, and the vines that still clung to the base put up a fight of their own, but after a starting effort, he did it. As it first started to turn, a deafening screech rang from the protesting structure, scaring birds from trees, but it was music to Alice's ears.

Finally, the merry-go-round was whipping around at a nearly break-neck speed. When he was sure enough momentum had been built up, Jasper clutched the bar and hopped lithely onto the now-zooming disk, casting a huge smile at Alice as the speed whipped their hair around them.

And that was how it was, their hands held tight, the world spinning jarringly around them, and the greenery blurring with the sky in their own personal fairyland.

**~*~**

**Okay, that was kinda short. Review anyway? Please?**


	21. Teamwork

**Hey guys! Sorry for the pause, the holiday season is pretty crazy and I was unable to access a computer for most of it, so thus the lack of updates. Still, I hope the holidays have been good to all of you and that you will have a happy New Years as well. I'm going to be updating this story regularly again, provided the requests continue to come, so I hope that's good news to everybody.**

**This idea from this chapter comes from one of Dylan'sSis101's suggestions.**

**~*~**

The two twins laughed and pushed at each other as they raced down the stairs to the kitchen. Thinking fast, the girl mounted the banister and slid down, hopping off when she reached the bottom in front of her brother, who was actually the faster of the two.

"Cheater!" Edward laughed, catching up with his sister on the straight-away dash to their destination. Alice just blew him a raspberry. In the final stretch, the ginger pulled ahead and skidded across the kitchen floor on his socks.

"I win!" Edward announced proudly as Alice, who had also taken advantage of the smooth tile, slid right into him. The pair collapsed on the floor, unable to restrain laughter as they untangled themselves.

"I _so_ let you win," Alice insisted out of habit.

"Yeah, right," Edward poked his sister in the ribs, making her giggle and slap his hand, "I won fair and square, and you know it."

"Well, not all of us can be freakishly fast, ya know," Alice teased, poking him back even harder.

Edward opened his mouth for a a retort, but their verbal game was cut short by their mother as she walked into the room, "Are you two ready to dye some eggs?" Mrs. Mason asked loudly, immediately causing both children to completely forget their ribbing.

"Yeah!" Both twins cried in unison as their mother set the supplies down on the vinyl table cloth.

While Mrs. Mason set about mixing the dyes, Alice and Edward watched, transfixed. The instant her mother's back was turned to the sink, Alice edged forward to poke her finger into one of the dye cups.

"Look! My finger's pink!" She exclaimed, holding up her stained finger to show her brother.

"Looks like you've been eating strawberries," Edward observed, less than impressed, "or like you're diseas—hey!" the boy tried to dodge away as Alice poked him.

She smiled upon seeing the pink splotch she had left on his face, "Now you've got chicken pox!" Alice informed him gleefully. Of course, this meant war, and Edward instinctively reached for the green dye, splashing a little bit at his sister who balked and dove away, crying, "Don't you _dare_ get any on my clothes!"

Edward just laughed, swirling his index finger in the dye.

"I mean it!" Alice hollered from under the table.

"Fine, truce?" Edward suggested, and Alice poked her inky head up from beneath the tablecloth.

"Promise?" She demanded cautiously, not ready to jeopardize her favorite pair of capris.

"I promise," her twin insisted, holding up his hands to show he wasn't crossing his fingers.

"Okay, truce then," Alice smiled and allowed Edward to pull her up from under the table, "pink isn't your color anyway," she added helpfully as she got another look at the hot pink stain she had left on her brother's pale face.

"Oh, really?" Edward tried to quirk an eyebrow like he'd seen people in movies do, but it didn't quite come out right, and the other eyebrow sort of sidled up too. Oh well, practice makes perfect.

"Mmm," Alice hummed knowingly, "You're much more of an Autumn, really..."

Two pairs of identical jade eyes met, and the twins shared a giggle before Edward gave his sister a light push, which Alice returned immediately. After a while of exchanging shoves, their mother broke in once again,

"Now, are you just going to fight all day, or are you going to decorate these Easter eggs?"

"We weren't fighting!" Alice defended quickly.

"Yeah, we were just..." Edward trailed off, trying to find the right word.

"Playing!" His sister finished for him.

"Yeah, playing," Edward agreed, nodding his auburn head fervently.

Mrs. Mason shook her head, trying to conceal her amusement as she scolded, "Well you should play nicer, and preferably in a way that won't result in broken vases." At this the twins had the decency to look embarrassed, both remembering how their last shoving-match ended.

"Sorry mom," the two mumbled at the same time, and now both sets of emerald eyes were firmly fixed on the floor. Now their mother did laugh softly at the twins' perfect unison, unable to even pretend to be angry anymore.

The children occupied themselves by looking repentant for another few seconds before Alice popped her head up, "So...eggs?"

"Yeah, please mom?" Edward mirrored his sisters hopeful expression.

"So long as you promise not to break anything," Mrs. Mason conceded, "Here, let me show you how to dip them..."

Once she was completely sure that the children knew what to do, and fairly sure that they would behave, Mrs. Mason retired to the next room where she flipped open her magazine and darted wary glances into the kitchen after every few minutes.

"What color should we make the first one?" Alice demanded excitedly, deft little fingers ghosting over the clean, white, ready-to-be-dyed eggs, "How about purple? Or orange? Or yellow?"

"I think I'm gonna do one blue," Edward said reflectively, liking the deep, midnight color affected by one of the little colored pools.

"Well, I think I'm gonna do my first one pink," Alice decided, "with glitter!"

"Glitter?" Edward asked dubiously, not seeing any glitter on the table.

"Yeah! See?" Alice produced a little tube of sparkling golden powder from her pocket, "I always keep some on me."

"Of course you do," Edward shook his tousled head. It made sense, anyway—clearly, Alice was a pixie, "if you sprinkle some on me and I think happy thoughts, will I fly?"

Alice scoffed at her twin, "As if I'd waste any of it on _you_."

Both siblings continued the stream of gentle teasing as they set about coloring the first eggs, never once hurting the other's feelings in the slightest.

Once Edward had his blue egg, and Alice had her glitter encrusted pink egg, Alice had another idea.

"Ya know what would be cool?" She asked slowly, "If you could make an egg that's all different colors, like tie-dye." And, without giving it another thought in typical Alice fashion, she reached for the dyes to mix them all together.

Knowing his sister well enough to understand exactly what she was doing, Edward reached forward faster and grabbed her wrist, "Wait! If you mix'em together, they'll just be all brown," he reminded her, though by now his own mind was already thinking on the potential coolness of a tie-dyed Easter egg, and then _he_ had an idea.

Edward grabbed the bottle of olive oil from the counter, and, for once, Alice was the one who was completely baffled over her sibling's actions. Edward's motives slowly became clear as he layered the different dyes in with the olive oil, and the pixie girl laughed with delight when she understood.

"Eddie, you're a genius!" She praised, amazed at how perfectly the dyes now sat atop of each other.

"Yeah, yeah," Her brother grinned, and it made him happy to astound his sister for once, because she amazed him all the time.

Once again, the twins' verdant eyes met, and understanding passed perfectly between the two; they made a pretty good team.

**~*~**

**Aww. See, up till now, I haven't done anything with just Alice and Edward, so I thought this would be kinda sweet. Tell me what you think!**


	22. Picnic

**Hiya! Just letting you guys know ahead of time, I'm gonna be working on another one of my stories steadily for the next two months, but I will most likely update this one every other week, if not every week. Still, if the updates come a little slowly, that's why. **

**This is another idea suggested by The Jazzled Author**

**~*~**

Even with the strenuous efforts of eight very determined parents, it took the group about a half an hour just to get to the top of the grassy hill where they would be picnicking. Sure, the kids would start off running up at top speed, but then Bella would stumble and Edward would try to catch her, only to end up falling as well, and he wouldn't be able to resist grabbing Alice down with him, who would be holding Jasper's hand, causing Jasper to fall, who would give Rosalie an "accidental" shove, who would bump into Emmett. Yes, no matter how they started out, the end result was always a shouting, shoving tangle of children at the bottom of the hill and some very frustrated parents.

Eventually, the troop made it to their destination, though Emmett had sprained his ankle, Bella was covered in little cuts and bruises, Rosalie's skirt was torn, and Jasper was splattered with mud. On top of that, every child looked like they had just trekked through a wind tunnel and were caked with dirt and blades of grass—but that's a good time when you're six.

Once they reached the top of the hill, Alice and Jasper went off to explore the fields, and Rosalie and Emmett engaged in something of a play wrestling match, which consisted mostly of Emmett diving in for a noogie or tickle attack and Rosalie ducking away, squealing and occasionally administering a jab to the ribs. Bella and Edward remained to try to set up one of the picnic blankets while the adults watched in amusement.

"Ack! Stupid wind!" Bella exclaimed as a corner of the blanket whipped up into her face.

"Maybe if we get rocks to hold the corners down..." Edward suggested, doing his best to keep the blanket from flying away on them.

"Or maybe we can just climb to the top of a hill and use it as a parachute," Bella half-joked, heart doing flip-flops when she caught the crooked grin on Edward's face through the billowing checkered sheet.

"Or tie a string to it and use it as a kite," The boy added, emerald eyes sparkling despite the effort he was expending just to hold on to the blanket.

"But it would just tug us along with it!" Bella reminded him, preferring to focus on this game than the task at hand.

"Yeah...maybe we should just let it go, maybe it would fly to Mars."

"Then the Martians could have a picnic!" The brunette proclaimed gleefully, and they both stopped pretending to be serious and giggled, nearly losing control of the blanket.

"You think there's wind on Mars? Cause maybe _we_ should have a picnic there," Edward muttered, only partly teasing, "'Might be easier..."

"How 'bout this," Bella thought out loud, "On the count of three, we push the blanket down and jump on top of it."

"Okay," Edward nodded seriously before beginning to count, "One..."

"Two..." Bella continued, readying herself for the jump.

"_Three_!" They both yelled, letting go and springing atop of the blanket.

"We did it!" Bella cried when the smashed into each other in the middle of the blanket, which was now stationary. Then, the wind flipped the sides of the blanket up over them, and they suddenly found themselves in a red and white checkered cocoon. Brown eyes glanced up to meet dancing green ones, and both children found themselves inexplicably smiling goofily.

"You know," Edward's grin widened, "I kinda like this. I kinda like this a lot."

* * *

"Stop! Stop!" Rosalie shrieked over and over, though the effect was ruined by her laughter.

"Hold still!" Emmett exclaimed as he once again tried and failed to catch the blonde around the waist.

"No way!" She teased back, making another successful dodge, "You can't catch me!"

"You're fast!" The dark haired boy proclaimed, "And my ankle hurts—a lot!"

"Excuses, excuses," Just after she finished, Rose gave a yelp as Emmett was nearly successful in an advance. She laughed triumphantly when she successfully evaded, her long flaxen locks flying in the wind as she tossed her head back.

"Maybe I'm just going easy on you," Emmett defended a bit lamely, though it was partially true; he was being very careful not to be too rough with his wrestling, 'cause the last thing he wanted was to hurt Rosalie, even a little. His sprained ankle did even the playing field quite a bit though...

Rosalie huffed, "You _better _not be!" The seven-year-old snapped, hands on her hips.

"You'll never know...." Emmett trailed off, enjoying the pretty shade of pink the girl's usually alabaster face turned when she got angry.

"Well then come on and catch me, already!" Rose goaded, just as she scooted narrowly away from another snatch, "Oh that's right," she laughed, "you can't!"

Just as the girl opened her moth for another jibe, she was caught by surprise as two arms grabbed her in an extreme bear hug.

"Eep!" She shrieked, gleefully incoherent.

"Gotcha!" Emmett shouted happily as Rosalie wiggled and kicked in an attempt to escape the hold.

"Leggo!" Rose cried, but she couldn't say anymore due to the giggle-hysterics that had overtaken her.

Emmett understood well enough though, "Say Uncle!" He demanded, but Rosalie only laughed, so he tightened the bear hug slightly.

"Can't...breathe!" She got out, which was the truth, though it was more do to her hysterical laughter than lack of oxygen.

Emmett had started to laugh with her when, suddenly, one of her aimless kicks hit him square in the gut.

"_Oof!_" With a sharp exhalation, the big bear of a boy stumbled backwards, teetered for an instant, and burst into a huge puddle of mud with a great _splash_.

Meanwhile, Rosalie, whom Emmett released automatically, had collapsed to the ground, unable to make an effort to get up through her newly intensified laughter.

"Aah! Mud-Monster!" She pretended to scream as Emmett rose from the muck, sludge dripping off him like molasses. He raised one mucky hand up to swipe some of the gunk from his face, and as his deep hazel eyes met Rose's violet ones, she knew she was in serious danger of never wearing this outfit again.

As though reading her mind, Emmett smirked devilishly before shouting out a battle cry, "Mud-Monster Attack!"

* * *

"Try it! Try it!"

"You sure?"

"Yeah! It's a blueberry, I know. Eddie'n I've gone blueberry picking here before."

"Alright."

"Open up!"

Alice smashed the blue-purple berry into Jasper's mouth. The children had been wandering the forest for the past twenty minutes, being careful not to stray far from the worn path. Just to be sure, Jasper made little nicks in trees with his safety pocket knife from time to time, having seen something similar done in a movie once. They were in their own world again; even though they were within a few yards of the camp sight, Alice and Jasper felt like they were on their own lush green planet.

They had never truly left the wide trail head, which was like the top of a funnel that bled out into a longer, narrower path—neither Alice nor Jasper felt the need to. For two imaginative children, this space felt enormous. There were berries to eat, that Jasper carefully identified as edible or inedible from his memory of his father's old survival handbooks, boulder piles for Alice to scale like mountains, and trees for Jasper to shimmy up and toss down nice branches for them to sword fight with.

Now Alice popped a blueberry in her own mouth and grinned at Jasper through purple stained lips.

"Is my mouth the same color as yours?" The blond wondered, opening his mouth wide for Alice's inspection.

"Yup," she informed him happily, "your teeth too, and you lips." Alice laughed as the boy automatically ran his blue tongue over his similarly colored lips, but only succeeded in smudging the stains further.

"Well, at least my forehead's not blue," Jasper remarked casually, making Alice frown in confusion.

"My forehead's not--"

With a quick grin, Jasper leaned forward and pressed a light kiss on Alice's forehead, leaving a big purple-blue stain.

* * *

Abruptly, all of the childrens' activities came to a sudden end when three words rang out though the picnic sight:

"Kids, food's out!"

**~*~**

**It's not over, there's gonna be a part two. Review and tell me whatcha think!**


	23. Picnic 2

**Next chapper! Yeah...there's probably gonna be another picnic one after this too (I'm having way too much fun with this whole plot)**

**~*~**

"Pass the corn on the cob!"

"Say please."

"Ack! Bella spilled her lemonade on me!"

"Yellow's a good color on you, Rose."

"Shut up."

"Look! A butterfly!

"That's a moth."

"What's for dessert?"

Sprinkled conversations and squabbles laced with birdsong and other nature sounds filled the camp site as the children ate. They all sat together on the checkered blanket, apart from the parents who ate at the picnic tables just a few feet away.

Alice and Jasper sat close together, eating and often whispering to each other before dissolving into giggles. Alice, who was stretched out on her stomach, had rested her petite legs on Bella's lap, which made it very awkward for Bella to eat, thus resulting in the lemonade spill. The brunette's face was still faintly crimson from that incident, and she wouldn't meet Rosalie's eyes because she could feel the blonde giving her the Glare of Death.

Sensing his friend's discomfort, Edward poked Bella lightly and murmured silly things in her ear until she laughed, all the while giving Rose his own version of The Glare. Eventually, Edward decided that this just wasn't a battle worth fighting, so he broke eye contact and returned his full attention to a now-grinning Bella.

Rosalie frowned, momentarily unsure of what to do now that she didn't have anyone to fight with, before turning to Emmett, who kept surreptitiously spitting watermelon seeds in her direction. Now Emmett found himself faced with the Glare of Death on him,,

"Uh...food fight?" He grinned weakly.

Unable to stay mad when Emmett looked at her with those ridiculous puppy-dog eyes, Rosalie just smiled and flung a forkful of potato salad onto his nose, which, of course, he licked off.

"Psst, Edward, _help!_" Jasper stage-whispered as Alice tried to thread a dandelion-stem bracelet for him. Edward just shook his head and gave Jasper a look that clearly said, _you're on your own here, buddy._ The blond boy responded with a mild glare, but Edward's eyes continued to glow with amusement.

"Hold still," Alice chastised, holding several flowers in her mouth as she twisted the stems around Jasper's wrist.

"Um...Bella?" Jasper tried his other friend, who just laughed and shook her head as well.

Glancing over at the other kids, Emmett took one look at the scene and cracked up, "Hey, nice bracelet!"

"Yeah, Jasper, _nice_," Rosalie snarked.

_The things I do for Alice..._ Jasper thought wryly, looking up towards the pearly gray sky as he resigned himself to his fate. However, Jasper's day was saved by Alice's notoriously short attention span.

"Rosalie, your hair's blowing everywhere! Want me to braid it for you?"

Rosalie smiled and nodded yes, please to the pixie girl, who flashed her own grin before scooting over to play hairdresser on Rose's golden tresses.

"And you're next, Bella!" Alice proclaimed, much to Bella's dismay, before adding, "and don't think I've forgotten about you, Jazzy."

Emmett and Edward caught each others' eyes, making a silent agreement to get the H-E-Double-Hockey-Sticks outta there before Alice decided that they needed makeovers as well. The pair made their escape while Alice scoured the ground for daisies to weave into Rose's hair.

* * *

"So how old are ya, anyway?" Emmett questioned over the wind as he whipped a Frisbee to Edward.

"Seven," The bronze-haired boy answered, catching the Frisbee easily, "How about you?"

"I'm almost nine; 'guess that's why I'm way stronger than you," Emmett teased.

"Yeah, well, I'm faster," Edward shrugged matter-of-factly. Emmett frowned, but he wasn't about to challenge the statement.

"'Faster' won't win you an arm-wrestling match," he pointed out instead.

Edward's lips quirked, "Yeah, and 'stronger' won't save you if you and a friend were being chased by a bear."

"But you're not faster than a bear," Emmett returned, trying to focus on the Frisbee and the back-and-forth conversation at the same time, "Nobody's faster than a bear."

"But you don't have to be faster than the bear," Edward grinned fully now, "you just have to be faster than your friend!"

Emmett laughed at this, "Oh yeah? Well I'd wrestle the bear!" He proclaimed, and now Edward laughed.

"I'd like to see you in a wrestling match with a grizzly," the smaller boy smiled as he imagined the scene, "I wonder who'd win."

"I would," Emmett bragged, "I'd show that bear who's boss!"

"I dunno...I think my money's on the grizzly."

"Well, one day, I'm gonna wrestle a bear, and you're gonna have to pay that money up."

"If you ever wrestle a bear and win, the money's yours," Edward promised, thinking that any amount of money lost on a wresting match between Emmett and a bear would be well worth it.

"Yeah, and don't you forget it!" Now all Emmett had to do was find a bear...

* * *

"Rose, you're hair's so pretty!" Alice exclaimed as she selected a sparkly violet ponytail holder (to match Rosalie's eyes) from the plethora of colorful hair-ties lining her skinny arm.

"I know," Rosalie smiled, liking the feeling of being pampered. She used to do beauty contests back in her old town, but there were none of those around Forks, and she was comforted by the confident movements of the other girl's skilled fingers in her hair, "but I know you're making it even prettier."

"Um, _yeah!_" Alice hummed happily, "it's nice to have a life-sized Barbie-doll every once and a while...you know, one who _cooperates_," At this, the dark-haired girl cast a pretend-angry glare at Bella, who responded with a pretend-apologetic look.

"Yeah, well this life-sized Barbie-doll hasn't seen what you've done to your normal Barbie dolls," Bella pointed out, referring to the food-coloring dye jobs and edgy, safety-scissor haircuts that most of Alice's dolls were sporting.

Alice clicked her teeth, "But those dolls are so _boring_ the way they are; you and Rosalie give me so much more to _work with_!" Bella rolled her eyes at this, but Alice ignored her, "Though you would look so great if you would just let me curl your hair, and Rosalie would totally rock blue highlights..."

"I don't let anything with the word 'iron' in it near my head," Bella answered instantly, remembering the array of hair-care devices Alice had shown her some time ago that very distinctly resembled medieval torture devices.

"You scaaaared, Bella?" Rosalie taunted, and Alice gave the blonde's braid an extra little twist that made her yelp slightly. Bella and Alice giggled as Rosalie huffed, and none of the girls noticed as Jasper snuck off to join the Frisbee game.

**~*~**

**Righto, you know the drill: drop me a review if you can, and I should have the final installment of the picnic-mini-series up fairly soon!**


	24. Picnic 3

**Okay, here's the final part of the picnic series, hope you guys liiiiiike =]**

**~*~**

It was only a matter of time before all of the children had joined the Frisbee game, as the girls weren't about to let the guys forget about them for too long. Besides, Frisbee was awesome. The game changed with time and developed all sorts of permutations such as teams, hopping requirements, boundaries, new rules, and more, without ever stopping.

Although, there were some constants to the game of course. At some point, Bella would inevitably tumble over and Edward would help her up while Rosalie tried to look innocent. Or, Emmett would miss a pass from Edward or Jasper, causing some huge debacle that ended in a short wrestling match between the the boys involved, during which the girls would roll their eyes and the remaining boy would laugh and cheer the others on. Sometimes the girls would choose sides too, but this never worked out well, as less physical, though none the less intense, fights would break out among them as well, which led to hurt feelings, which then led to grudging apologies.

However, at this point in time, the game was going smoothly, and all of the participants were laughing and having a good time.

"Nice _catch_ Ally!" Jasper praised when the girl easily caught a particularly difficult toss to be rewarded with a grin and a flip of dark hair.

"I can catch better," Edward put in, because he knew Alice was hoping for an argument on this subject.

"Yeah right, twin."

"Whoa, Rose, you've got a _canon,__" Emmett commented when the blonde whipped the Frisbee fast and hard to the brunette on the opposite side of the loose circle they'd formed on the grass._

"She gets it from me."

"You're _younger_ than me, _Jazzy."_

_"_Hey! Only I can call him that," Alice chided, scrunching her nose at Rosalie, "and way to almost take Bella's head off with that throw."

Rosalie shrugged, not looking very sorry.

"S'okay," Bella shrugged and tossed the disk to Jasper, "I get attacked by in—inani—not alive objects a lot," She finished after struggling and giving up on a word she'd heard her parents use a few times.

"See?" Rose smirked, "happens to her _all_ the time."

"Don't worry, I'll steal her cookie at snack time," Emmett whispered loudly to Bella.

Bella smiled a little but didn't want to cause any trouble for Emmett and Rosalie, "Thought you were on her side."

Emmett winked, "Shhhh...If Rose is mean, I'll be a double agen—_Oow!"_

"Sorry Emmett, you should probably pay a little bit more attention," Alice suggested when the Frisbee she'd tossed cracked the dark-haired boy in the ribs. Emmett eyed her warily, suspicious of the suppressed glee in her voice and the little pixie's mischievous streak.

"Hey Edward, Go long!" Emmett called after the moment's inspection. Before any of the kids could barely blink, Edward had already gone long. Very long.

"What can I say, my bro's fast," Alice muttered to herself. Out loud she called, "Showoff!"

Emmett made a big show of preparing to throw the Frisbee so that he had everybody's full attention when he flung the disk with all his strength to the far-off Edward. When it was about halfway there, a slight wind hit the Frisbee, causing it to dip low earlier than was intended. Normally, this wouldn't have been a problem, but this slight error in trajectory created the perfect time for what appeared to be a pair of twin flames—one scarlet, one gold—to shoot across the distance and snatch the Frisbee out of the air.

Angry cries arose from the children as the pair sauntered forward. Vickie shook her main of red hair away from her head while Jamie pretended to fan himself with the Frisbee. Both nine-year-olds were grinning devilishly.

Before any words could be said, an intense game of keep-away was instigated wherein Edward, Emmett, Alice, Rosalie, Jasper, and Bella learned several things:

1. Nine-year-olds are mean. And they kick.

2. If you tackle Victoria, she WILL scratch you.

3. Jamie and Vicky are _really_ good at keep-away.

"What, do you two really, _really_ need a Frisbee or something?" Emmett demanded bitterly once they were all out of breath.

"Actually, we've both got Frisbees," James informed him and the others coolly, "so I guess we really don't need this one."

"Huh, yeah, guess so," Victoria agreed, examining the toy in her hands like an alien object.

"So what should we do with it?" James asked rhetorically, knowing that none of the younger kids had the energy to do anything about it and rather enjoying that knowledge.

"Gee, I dunno," Victoria hummed pleasantly, cocking her head to the side, "What _should _we do with it, Jamie?"

By this point, the other children were looking at the duo with unabashed hatred, and Jamie and Vickie knew it.

"Weeell," Jamie began, but their game was cut short when an adult voice sounded from somewhere in the woodsier area.

"James! Get down here! We need to bring Vicky home!" The parent shouted, "If you two come now, we'll stop for ice cream on the way back!"

Unable to argue with ice cream, James and Victoria shrugged and pitched the Frisbee into the branches of a nearby tree.

"Later kiddies," Victoria laughed, gave a mocking salute, and dashed off.

Jamie lingered a moment longer, looking over his latest "playmates." At last, he smiled slowly, "Seeya," he smirked and turned to follow Vicky.

"Well, they were jerks," Bella muttered, much to the agreement of the others.

"Hey guys! Cookies!" Alice declared after a beat, and the Frisbee incident was instantaneously forgotten as the six scrambled to the picnic basket to grab some cookies.

Later, when the parents asked where the Frisbee they had come here with disappeared to, the children just shrugged, unable to say anything with their mouths all full of cookie.

*** * * **

**This concludes the picnic series, hope y'all enjoyed. Yup, James and Vic won this round...kinda. And there's nothin you can do about it except review! (WellThere') I actually secretly love (er, not so secretly anymore) James and Victoria and think they're super cool. Please don't kill me, just yell at me through a REVIEW. Seeya guys!**


	25. Bells, Jake, and the Squishies

**Heya! Who out there is enjoying a ton of snow days right now? Cause I am! Anyway, this chapter request was from ****SAraH SmAllz, who wanted a friendship chappie between Jakob and Bella. Hope everybody liiiiiikes!**

**~*~**

"Get outta there Jake, you're gonna get Pa-na-mone-e-ya," Bella yelled from her perch on the twist of bleached driftwood.

Her and Jacob's dads were out fishing, so the two friends were left alone to wander the beaches of La Push. It was a typical Fork's day—chilly, overcast, and wet—but Jacob thought it was a perfect day for a swim. Bella had opted to stay on dry land, watching the younger boy dive and flip about amongst the gray-blue waves.

"Aw, just a little longer, Bells," Jacob pleaded from the water, "'Sides, I'm not cold at all."

"Alright," Bella conceded doubtfully, "but you better not be counting on me to save you if you start to drown of something."

Jacob just laughed and sent a spray of salt water in Bella's direction. Bella squealed and chucked a fistful of sand at him.

A few minutes later, Jacob doggie-paddled over to the partially submerged tree. Grabbing on to one of the lower most branches, the boy tried to hoist himself up, but only succeeded in plunking back into the water. After a few more failed attempts, Bella carefully picked her way down the tree until she'd reached her friend. Jacob looked a little surprised at Bella's sudden appearance, but grateful none the less. Bella just slung her arm around one of the branches for support, grabbed onto Jacob's wrist, and gritted her teeth in preparation. With a little effort on both parties, Jacob found himself seated successfully on the limb.

Jacob flashed a huge smile, "Thanks, Bells."

"What are friends for?" Bella replied, finding it impossible not to smile back.

Jacob shrugged happily and watched his feet as they dangled just above the tumultuous waters right next to Bella's. The pair sat like that for a little while before a silent agreement passed between them to seek higher ground. Both children watched each other carefully as they scaled the tree, righting the other if the happened to stumble. Bella felt responsible for Jacob because he was younger, and Jacob was well aware of Bella's coordination issues.

Once they had settled into the higher, tentacle like branches of the tree, Jacob proceeded to shake himself out like a dog, "accidentally" spraying Bella with droplets of water.

"Ugh, Jake!" Bella tried ineffectually to shield herself with her translucently pale arms.

"What?" Jacob asked with exaggerated innocence, earning a light shove from the girl seated next to him. He knew perfectly well what she was talking about.

In lieu of answering the largely rhetorical question, Bella responded simply, "I got snacks."

The brunette reached for the bag her mom had packed for her, which she had left hanging from one of the skinnier, more twisted branches. As she started to unpack, Jacob gasped with delight,

"Cookies!" He cheered, bouncing slightly on the branch as Bella revealed a stack of M&M chocolate chip cookies. Without another word exchanged, him and Bella tore into the slightly soggy snacks.

Upon finishing the treats, Jacob and Bella leaned back against their respective branches, relaxing to the sound of the waves all around them. After a moment or two of this, Jacob leaned over and grabbed Bella's arm,

"C'mon, I wanna show you somethin'."

Bella smiled good-naturedly and let Jacob tow her along. They had always loved exploring all the tide pools together, and there was always something new and exciting to discover. Now was the perfect time for discoveries, too. It was low tide, and all the cool shells and little creatures would be fresh, intact, and exposed.

"Okay, this is really cool," Jacob beamed as he tugged Bella toward the jetty. Bella felt a rush of excitement; she'd never been on the jetty before except when her dad would carry her out to the end to watch him fish. This was different, though.

Bella grinned as the sea breeze whipped her mahogany brown hair out of its ponytail and about her face, "Betcha I can find more starfish than you."

"Oh, you're _on_!" Jacob responded enthusiastically to the challenge as they trekked, climbed, and jumped across the string of jutting basalt. At length, Jacob reached out a russet arm to stop Bella in her tracks, "It's right here."

Bella looked at the younger boy in the same way she had when he'd introduced her to his imaginary friend, General GRR, several years ago; there was nothing of particular interest here that she could see. Jacob didn't say anything. Instead, he flashed a grin and lowered himself down onto the soaking rocks below before hunching down and disappearing from view.

"Jakey?" Bella called uncertainly, moving forward and leaning over the edge.

"C'mon Bells!" Jacob's slightly distorted voice floated up from somewhere below.

After an instant's hesitation, Bella slipped down the wedge of rock, scraping the palms of her hands in the process. Once she was standing safely on the gritty sand, Bella looked around herself in search of her seemingly vanished friend.

"In here!" Jacob hollered excitedly, and Bella gasped slightly when her eyes focused.

"A cave!" Her voice echoed off the configuration of rocks.

Without further thought, Bella got down on her hands and knees and crawled into the surprisingly open space. Light filtered in from either side of the jetty, and little crabs scuttled away from the two loud, large creatures that had taken up temporary residence in their home. The sand was marshy wet, and they sunk into it slightly, which caused odd sucking noises to occur whenever they moved or shifted position. It was clear from the dripping water that this little cave only existed during low tide, resulting in a plethora of peculiar odds and ends scattered about.

"This is so cool!" Bella exclaimed, highly impressed that Jacob had discovered this place.

"That's not the best part!" Jake was thrilled with Bella's approval, "There are these weird squishy things, and if ya poke 'em with sticks, they move!"

Bella followed Jacob to a corner of the cave, spotting the aforementioned "squishies" clinging at odd angles to a grouping of rocks. Cautiously, Bella brought up her index finger to lightly prod the foremost squishy. When the little glob retracted sharply, a surprised/delighted noise escaped from Bella's open mouth.

"They are squishy!" Was all she could say, eying the pinkish blobs with wonder.

"Yuh-huh," Jacob pulled a few pieces of driftwood from a nearby rock and handed Bella one of them, and before long, a barrage of giggles could be heard coming from the cave.

After all, that's a good time when you're a kid: squatting down in a crop of pointy rocks with your best friend, covered in sand, grit, and miscellaneous grime, poking squishy things with sticks.

**~*~**

**Umm, so, yeah! Review and get a free squishy!**


	26. Male Bonding

**Hello0o0oo, here's a shiny new chapter for you guys. This idea is from ****Bookworm777 who requested a chapter with all the boys and then one with all the girls, so part two will be here next week. Oh, and for those of you who wanted to know what the "squishies" were, uh...I'm not sure, really, but I've seen them before at the beach, and they are fun to poke =]**

**~*~**

Three boys loitered around the no-mans-land between Emmett and Jasper's houses. Edward,

Jasper, and Emmett weren't doing anything in particular, really, just messing around in the freshly fallen snow. Clean, thick snow was a rarity in Forks, and they intended on taking advantage of the opportunity; they just didn't know how yet. Because of this, the boys simply settled on wandering the snowy space until inspiration found them.

_Fwip, Fwip, Fwip_

Emmett's snow pants swished together as he explored the frozen expanse of land. This boring patch of grass and dirt right next to his house had somehow transmogified into something new, strange, and _fun_. Plus there was no school—that helped. Experimentally, he grabbed a fistful of snow from the small mound behind him and was delighted to find that the crystals clumped naturally together into a near perfect sphere with practically no effort on his part.

_Perfect._

A mischievous grin dimpled Emmett's face as he took aim at Edward, the closest target. The grin widened when the snowball flew through the air and _plopped_ against Edward's back. With unexpected speed, the bronze-haired boy turned around to face Emmett, sporting a crooked grin and two already made snowballs.

"Ohhh..." Emmett's grin disappeared as he ducked the first snowball and then turned down in determination as the second one hit him square in the chest, "It's _on!_"

As Emmett and Edward proceeded to blitz each other with snowballs, Jasper was examining the snow around him meditatively, seemingly oblivious to the two other boys. After a moment, he turned to face his friends,

"We should build a fort," The blond's authoritative tone carried through the air, causing the playfully feuding boys to look up before shrugging and agreeing happily to the proposition.

* * *

Once they had worked out what kind of structure it was going to be, snow-fort construction was underway, with each of the three boys attending to different tasks. While Emmett hoisted ice chunks to create the bulk of the fort, Jasper efficiently cemented the blocks together with handfuls of snow, also similarly insulating the inner dome to prevent cave-ins. Meanwhile, Edward scouted out the surrounding areas for more sources of ice blocks, as Emmett's supplies quickly ran low.

A little ways into construction, when Edward was helping Jagger out with a weak wall, there was a loud, muffled crash from somewhere out of sight.

"Agh! Avalanche!" Shouted an equally muffled voice from the vicinity of the crash.

Emerald and sapphire eyes met, and both boys snickered.

"Oh, Emmett," Edward sighed. Jasper just rolled his eyes. After the shared sardonic moment, the pair wordlessly trekked off to see what kind of help Emmett needed.

"Woooow," Jasper whistled once they reached the obvious crash site.

Emmett was sprawled out on the snow, covered almost completely by huge blocks of ice and about a foot of loose snow that seemed to have fallen from the hedge he was wedged against. Emmett just looked out at them expressionlessly from under the pile. Edward and Jasper just couldn't help themselves; now the two laughed much harder than they had before, causing a look of annoyance to spread across Emmett's round face.

"It's not _funny_," The buried boy grumbled. The other two stopped laughing and stared at him until Emmett laughed, "okay, it's pretty funny. How 'bout helping me out?"

Naturally, Jasper and Edward's first instinct was to help the other boy, but when would they get a chance like this again? Once again, they just couldn't help themselves.

"Hmm, I dunno if we should," Jasper looked out at the boy standing next to him from under his shaggy blond bangs, "whattayou think, Edward?"

The bronze-haired boy smiled mischievously, "It's a tough call..."

"I mean, he's all strong, right? He always beats us at arm wrestling, so he should be able to manage himself," Jasper reasoned.

"Yeah! Okay, sorry Emmett, looks like you're on your own here," Edward teased, and with that, him and Jasper started to walk away. However, before Emmett could even shout anything at his friends, they turned back around and headed towards Emmett.

"Oh, you guys are _funny_," Emmett grumbled at them as the two dug him out, "like, Saturday morning cartoons funny. Bugs Bunny's got nothin' on you. You should have your own show, that's how funny _you_ are."

"We're un-burying you, aren't we?" Edward pointed out, and Emmett's half-hearted invective ceased, only to be replaced by a hearty, tone-deaf singing of the Song that Gets on Everybody's Nerves.

"Okay! You're free!" Jasper grunted a little while later as he dragged the last major chunk away, "You can stop singing now!"

"It kinda stopped bugging me after the seventy-fifth verse," Edward put in, kicking some snow off of Emmett's stomach.

"Well look on the bright side, At least we've got a whole bunch of building blocks now," Emmett pushed himself up from the icy ground, "and my singing rocks, so don't pretend you didn't like it."

It was true—well, the first part, anyway—there was now a surplus of ice littered on the ground, perfect for the fort. Working steadily, the boys eventually built up the structure into a huge dome, wide enough to comfortably fit the three of them and tall enough to keep Emmett from bumping his head too easily. All in all, it was a heck of a fort. Excited, the trio clambered into the igloo, thrilled to have finally finished their task.

Once they were all seated in various positions in the white dome, they chattered happily about how incredibly _cool_ it was to have their own fort. However, after a time, the conversation died, and several moments of silence ticked by.

"So...what do we do now?"

**~*~**

**So, do the review thing...pweeze?**


	27. FeMale Bonding

**Hola, friends! Figured I'd just get this second part out there, cause I'm prolific like that *coughyeahrightcough* Anyways, this chapter is a follow up to Bookworm777's request, only this one featuring all the girls instead of all the boys. Hope y'all enjoy =]**

**Disclaimer: I don't own _nuffin'_, not even GIR no matter how much I wish...**

**~*~**

"P. U. This stuff stinks!" Bella complained, referring to the bubblegum pink nail polish Alice and Rosalie were be-spackling all over her nails.

"Stop being a baby Bella," Rosalie chided absentmindedly as she pushed a sheath of perfect blonde hair away from her eyes.

"It'll look so pretty, I promise," Alice assured her friend, "besides," The pint-sized fashionista grinned, "it matches your face!"

Bella groaned and covered her blush with her free hand, causing the other girls to giggle. They were all at Bella's house, practically snowed in, and they weren't allowed outside 'cause some of the branches on the dumb trees could fall. Whatever.

"This is boring, anyway," Bella muttered, "I want to play in the snow."

Alice gasped dramatically, "Bella!" Her eyes went comically wide, "Are we suggesting that we..._break the rules_?"

"Well...yeah."

"I approve," Rosalie put in unexpectedly, and Alice nodded vigorously.

As quickly and quietly as they could, the girls suited up in their snow clothes and crept through the house on tip-toe, frequently shushing each other. They were especially super-duper-sneaky while creeping past the living room, where Bella's mom and dad sat watching TV. The trio paused at the door, and Bella put her finger to her lips as she slid the door open _ver-ry_ carefully so that it wouldn't creak. There! They were out!

"We did it!" Bella cheered, high-fiving Alice who was trying to catch snow-flakes on her tongue.

"Dang straight!" Alice agreed enthusiastically as she turned the high-five into a hug. One would think the three of them and just ended world hunger. Even Rosalie was uncharacteristically flushed and excited as she took in the icy world around them.

"Go us," The blonde said, a bit sarcastically.

"Um, _yeah_, we rock!" Alice chose the slight depreciative note in Rose's voice, "Now what're we gonna do? I kind of wanna make snow angels. Let's make snow angels."

They made snow angels. Then they switched gears made snowmen...and snow women, and snow monkeys, and snow bunnies, and snow robots, and snow aliens, and snow bananas, and all other sorts of snow things.

Alice sighed as she looked out on their masterpieces, "It's beautiful."

"I like Bob the best," Bella declared in reference to the snow-Munchkin they'd made.

Rosalie scoffed and pointed out a posing snow-woman, "Chanel is _clearly_ the greatest."

"Well you're both nuts, GIR is my most favorite-est of favorites," Alice chirped merrily, patting the reconstruction of her most favorite-est of favorite cartoon characters. Neither Rosalie nor Bella had ever heard of the little alien/robot/dog, so they just played along and helped their elfin friend sculpt the peculiar little thing.

"I'm cold," Rosalie said abruptly, and, never one to put up with anything she disliked, turned around and headed for the house.

"Shall we follow the princess in?" Alice questioned in a somewhat-British-like accent.

Bella tilted her head to the side as she pretended to consider, "We shall."

With a final glance towards their creations, the girls traipsed back to the warm house, where Bella's amused-looking mom was waiting for them with microwave hot chocolate and assurances that they were in all kinds of trouble for going outside.

"Do you guys want whipped cream in your hot cocoa?" Renee called as she rummaged around through the cupboards.

"Duh! It wouldn't be cool any other way!" Alice exclaimed and smiled hugely at Bella's mom, making her laugh, before adding, "Ooh, and mini-marshmallows, please. Looooots of mini-marshmallows!"

"I'll have what she's having," Bella answered, giving Alice a playful shove.

"Just whipped cream, no marshmallows," Rosalie placed her order while scootching away to avoid the giggle-filled shove-fest that had ensued.

"I got your pom-pom hat!" Bella declared, snatching the purple knitted cap off her friend's head.

"Oh, you've done it _now_!" The dark-haired girl squealed happily.

Rosalie was quiet for a moment, then she shrugged and thumped both girls with a pillow—_when in Rome_ right?

**~*~**

**Good? Bad? So lame it made you sad? Tell me!**


	28. Kind of Like Being Electrocuted

**Hm, this one took a little while, didn't it? I really don't have any excuse...heh. I'll try to get another chapter in this week to make up for that, cause this was just a little extra chapter anyway. No one requested this one, I actually came up with it on my own. The fluffiest JxV you will probably ever read. **

**~*~**

It was late summer, the sun was setting, and the milkshake James had been sharing with Victoria had fallen and was oozing creamy, chocolatey goodness out onto the sawdust floor of the playground. Oh well, worse things have happened. The playground was empty except for the inseparable nine-year-olds, which was fine with them. Jamie and Vickie were sort of the unofficial monarchs of the park, seeing as they were older than most, and scarier than all, the other kids who played there. They got what they wanted, and they intimidated pretty much everybody, even some of the parents.

Presently, Jamie was sprawled fearlessly across the top of the enclosed slide as though it were a throne, ignoring the long drop facing him should he make the slightest slip. A foot or two away, Vickie hung upside-down from the monkey bars, tangled red hair falling in a fiery cascade away from her head. Neither of them spoke; they didn't feel the need. Around this time, almost every night, Jamie and Vickie experienced a rare moment of total peace amongst the chaos they created together on a daily basis.

Tonight was like every other evening, except for the fact that Jamie really wanted to touch Victoria's hair. She wore it long, like always, and it looked exactly like a wildfire James had once seen after a barbecue-gone-wrong, which he'd thought was really awesome looking. Jamie kinda liked destruction, and destroying things—it was almost an art when you thought about it. Anyway, right now, he just kept staring at his best friend and imagining curling a strand of her wildfire hair around his finger. Weird.

What Jamie didn't know was that, while he was thinking about Vickie's hair, she was sneaking glances at his eyes. Victoria had never noticed Jamie's eyes before, really; she just hadn't paid much attention, but now she realized that he had really nice eyes. Amber, like hawk's eyes, like the tigers-eye stones she kept in a box in her room. Most blonds, even dirty-blonds like James, had blue or green eyes, and hardly anybody at all had eyes like hawks. Vickie wanted to stare straight into his eyes for a long time, but that would be creepy, right?

Jamie wasn't one to put up with restlessness for long, so he flung himself down the side and made his way over to the topsy-turvy girl on the monkey-bars. Victoria watched her friend idly as he leaned against the playground framework in front of her.

"This is kinda boring," Jamie was saying, "how 'bout we race to the--"

_Crackle!_

_What was that?_

_Electricity!_

They both leaned forward like two pieces of the oppositely-charged metal they'd played with in science class. Their lips touched for a second in an electrically charged kiss that tasted like thunderstorms and chocolate milkshake. Vickie fell off the monkey bars with a _thunk_, and Jamie stumbled to the ground. They both acted as though they'd been shocked. For a few seconds, they stared accusingly at each other, alarm evident in their eyes.

Cautiously, Victoria got up, brushed herself off, and plunked down next to James. With uncharacteristic uncertainty, James brushed a few strands of orange hair away from Vickie's face as she rested her head on his shoulder. Why was did it feel so weird all of a sudden to touch each other? They had grown up shoving, hair-pulling, poking, tickling, elbowing, and sometimes biting, but all this was...different, and they didn't know if they liked it yet.

The only thing freakier than having a ginormous crush on your best friend is not _knowing_ until you kiss them and you feel like you've been electrocuted.

"Why do people think sunsets look pretty?" Victoria wondered suddenly, "the sky looks like cat vomit."

James snickered and poked her in the ribs, this gesture feeling a thousand times normal-er than anything that had transpired in the past few minutes, "Vic, You're _such_ a weirdo."

Victoria blew a raspberry, "Don't call me names, freakazoid."

They sat like that, being mean-but-not really to each other until the cat-vomit sky turned bruise colored and the fireflies came out, twinkling like the coins Jamie and Vickie liked to steal from peoples' pockets. They didn't go home like they were supposed to have about an hour ago. They caught fireflies and pulled off the glowing bottoms, painting themselves with the shimmering guts and calling it night-jewelry. They got pretend-married and gave each other fluorescent, firefly-gut wedding rings and danced around the playground until their parents came to drag them home.


	29. Egg Hunt

**Yay! A seasonal chapter! This is another one suggested by Dylan'sSis101. Hope you all had a good Easter/Passover/Week Off From School!**

**~*~**

The giant pink bunny was starting to seriously creep Bella out. Bunnies just aren't naturally that big...or that pink...or that _smily_. The bubblegum-hued creature had been dancing around and smiling its big, doofy grin for some time, and Bella just didn't trust it.

Alice, on the other hand, had already hugged, high-fived, and gotten a piggyback ride from the thing, and now they were doing the Bunny-Hop together. The frolicking rabbit had tried to hug Rosalie before and gotten a kick in the shins for the effort, so it seemed happy to stick with Alice, _thank-you-very-much._

"That bunny doesn't blink. It just keeps _smiling_," Bella muttered in suspicious amazement, more to herself than to the copper-haired boy seated next to her on the soggy grass.

"Maybe it's a _demon_ bunny," Edward suggested playfully as he wiggled scary-monster-fingers in Bella's direction.

"Or some kinda mutant," Bella hypothesized, imagining a cute, fluffy bunny falling into a puddle of hot pink toxic waste.

"Maybe it's just dumb," before Bella could say anything else, Edward leaned over and began a perfectly executed tickle-assault.

* * *

Jasper Hale snuck away from the photo-shoot his parents had launched on him and his sister. Rosalie, who appeared to be dressed up as Little Bo-Peep—frilly pink and white dress, bonnet, et all—had no qualms with the attention, but Jasper wasn't really into primping and glamor shots. Besides, he had more important stuff on his mind.

It didn't take long to locate Ally—she was the one with the bunny ear headband and the fluffy tail pinned to the back of her skirt. Also, she was rocking out with a fuchsia, bow-tie wearing rabbit-on-steroids, so that helped.

Jasper crept super-sneaky-ninja-style up to Alice, who was preoccupied with her trippy dance number. He wrapped his arms around the tiny girl's torso and blew a zerbert into her neck.

"Eep!" Alice squealed before reeling around to glomp the blond boy. She grinned, "Happy Bunny-Day!"

Jasper grinned, "Happy Easter to you to, Ally-cat."

"Noooooo," Alice drew the word out deliberately, "I'm a _bunny-rabbit_," She motioned to her ears and tail, "See?" She crinkled her nose and munched an imaginary carrot.

Jasper found himself repeating the pantomime, "Ehhh, what's up, Doc?"

Alice laughed with delight and held up her Easter basket, "Ready to score some candy?"

"Actually, about that..." Jasper's voice turned quiet and serious, "You know about The Golden Egg?"

"Yeah! One of us totally has to find it!" Her jade eyes lit up with determination and possibility, "No one ever finds it, but we could!"

"I think we can," Jasper nodded, "but first we're gonna need to talk strategy."

Alice bobbed her head as a sign for him to continue.

"Okay," Jasper pulled out a map of the park grounds he had snagged and labeled earlier that day, "It's all about getting in Their heads: where's the hardest place They could hide it from some kids? So--"

"Who are _They_?" Alice interrupted, brow crinkling.

"You know..._Them_," Jasper shrugged before continuing, "So, most kids are gonna go for the candy all in the front, so we gotta run all the way to the end and work backwards. Then there are the trees; lotsa kids will spend tons of time getting eggs in the trees, and they're also all going to look in the trees for the Golden Egg. But that's a mistake because They know that we know that They know that trees are a good place for hiding, so They'll make sure to hide it somewhere else. Make sense? Alright, so we fan out and comb the perimeter..."

* * *

"I want the Golden Egg," Rosalie huffed to Emmett. To those who don't know Rosalie, it may have seemed as though she was practicing her Verruca Salt impression, but Emmett did know Rosalie, so he could tell that she was deadly serious.

"But _Ro-ose_, I hear it's not even real," Emmett tried to rationalize, "I hear it's just made up to waste our time so we look for that instead of getting all the good candy."

"It's real," Rosalie said in a clipped voice, "and I want it."

"Oookay, I'll share my candy with you if you don't get any," Emmett shrugged.

"And you're gonna help me find it," Rosalie said as though Emmett had never spoken. She turned her clinical violet gaze on the dark-haired boy as he made "who-me? No-way" gestures with his hands.

"Uh, it's a pretty big orchard for just the two of us..." Emmett just wanted candy. Why was that so much to ask?

"Let me rephrase, _you're_ going to find it for _me_," Rosalie smiled in a very self-satisfied way, and Emmett groaned.

"You're mean," He pouted sullenly. Emmett looked kinda ridiculous with a pout...but also kinda adorable...

Rosalie found herself a little stung by the comment, no matter how silly/cute Emmett looked with a pout, "I'm not mean," She said with complete confidence that she didn't really have at the moment.

"You are," Emmett insisted childishly, "I just want candy. If you were nice, you'd just let me get candy."

A frown crossed Rosalie's pretty face; she wanted the Golden Egg, but she _really_ _didn't_ want to make Emmett unhappy. She hated that stupid guilty feeling in her stomach. She sighed and walked off, knowing she'd have to think of _something_ that would get rid of the icky feeling and still get her what she wanted. Rosalie really needed to get her priorities in order one of these days.

At length, she returned to Emmett, who was chatting animatedly to a younger kid who wanted candy-nabbing tips. Emmett was nice to little kids, to everybody. People liked him because he was funny and nice. If people liked Rosalie at all, it was usually because she was pretty and wore nice clothes, except for Emmett; he liked her because, well...he just did.

"Here," She said softly upon tapping one of the boy's broad soldiers, "I had to hug the stupid bunny to get it to give me this. I know they're your favorite."

Rosalie handed Emmett a fun-size Snickers and a pack of gummy bears, and the bunny-hug was worth it once she saw his dark eyes light up.

"Thanks Rosey-Posey!" He pulled her into a noogie—a very Emmet-like display of affection. For once, Rosalie didn't complain about him messing up her hair, or the dopey nick-name.

The blonde girl shrugged, "Don't make such a big deal; it's just candy, and we're gonna be grabbing a lot more once the egg hunt starts."

"Don't forget," Emmett gave his friend's golden tresses a final ruffle, "we've also gotta look for that stupid egg-thing you want so much."

Rosalie beamed at him and rested her head on his shoulder, a display of affection that Emmett had no idea how to handle. So he put her in a headlock.

**~*~**

**This will be continued in the next chapter. Don't forget to REVIEW! :D**


	30. Egg Hunt 2

**HEY GUYS! (all-caps and exclamation marks are totally necessary) **

**Guess what: I'm back!**

**(kind of)**

**I'm reallllly trying to finish my other fics, so I'm not giving this my full attention, but once I start writing these chapters, they get pretty addictive. Besides, since you guys are so awesome, I have lots of great ideas to go on. So, be sure to review and continue to amaze me with your awesomeness.**

**Oh, and happy belated Easter!**

"Rose! Rose, I see it!"

Just when Emmett had convinced himself that the Golden Egg was nothing but a cruel ruse made to gyp kids like him out of candy, he saw it. Where the soggy, open field became thick woods, the gold egg sat, nestled in a tangle of roots.

At Emmett's declaration, Rosalie's eyes lit up.

"Where? Where?" The blonde demanded. She tried to run, but her pale pink, multi-tiered dress made the effort impossible. Emmett couldn't help but wonder why anyone would attend an Easter Egg hunt dressed like a birthday cake. The dark-haired boy kept a close eye on the egg as he waited for Rose to catch up, as though it might disappear if turned his back.

"I'm gonna go get it," Emmett called back. Rosalie was having trouble navigating the patches of mud, and he was eager to get this whole ordeal over with.

Emmett jogged over to the shiny plastic egg and started to reach for it. He stopped, glanced around; this was almost too easy, but...

A soft rustling noise distracted Emmett from his task. He looked up in surprise, only to come face to face with a fluffy white bunny rabbit. Emmett stared, agog. He'd never seen a bunny this close up before. The rabbit, on the other hand, was ambivalent. It tilted its furry head to the side, as though to evaluate the human before it. Emmett mimicked the gesture. He was surprised when the bunny shot forward, lightening quick, to sieze the golden egg between its tiny front paws.

"Hey!" The boy cried out, indignant. He stood to chase the thieving rabbit as it hopped off and promptly tripped on a root. The rabbit stopped, turned around, and thumped Emmett in the face with its hind legs before hopping off with its bounty.

Emmett punched the ground in frustration. Finally over the mud, Rosalie ran to her fallen friend.

"Emmett..." She trailed off as the boy turned himself over. Emmett's hand's and knees were all banged up from the fall, and the left side of his face was already purpling. He tried to smile reassuringly at Rosalie, but it was lumpy and lopsided.

"That was a very bad bunny," He said, and Rosalie smiled back at him.

"It caught you by surprise is all," Rosalie reassured graciously.

Suddenly, Emmett remembered the egg. He frowned.

"Sorry I couldn-"

"I'm sure the prize is dumb anyway," Rosalie said, and that was that. She helped pull Emmett up and let him lean on her as they traipsed back across the field, even though it wrinkled her dress. Emmett was glad to have Rose helping him-he was limping pretty bad-though he may have leaned on her a little more than was strictly necessary...

**OoO**

Jasper's plan for the successful retrieval of the Golden Egg was being carried out perfectly, until Alice ran off to follow the White Rabbit.

No, seriously.

"Alice? Alice!"

The elfin girl had simply squealed 'Look! A bunny!' and darted off. Jasper tried to follow her bobbing rabbit-ear headband, but he quickly lost sight of it. He looked around, dumbfounded. Where had that pixie gone?"

"Jazzy!" Alice's shout was faint, but Jasper traced it to the edge of the field. He parted a waist-high stand of grass to reveal a hunched over Alice, pinned-on bunny tail in the air.

"The White Rabbit went down here! There's something shiny..." Alice's chattered excitedly as she reached into the rabbit hole.

Jasper was uneasy-wasn't there a story that started out kinda like this? His thoughts were interrupted by a happy squeal from the dark-haired girl.

"I got it! I got it!" Alice exclaimed, clutching none other than the Golden Egg in her brightly painted nails.

Jasper's eyes widened at the sight. He jogged over to his friend for a better look.

"Way to go Ally!"

Alice grinned, "I think this calls for a victory dance."

As the pair were hopping around, cheering, and high-fiving, something very peculiar happened. Without warning, an inquisitive magpie swooped in and snatched the Golden Egg from Alice's waving arm, gripping it in its talons and flying off.

Jasper and Alice stared dumbly after the bird, mouths agape.

**OoO**

"I'm gonna get aaaall the candy if you don't hurry up!" Bella teased Edward. She was running ahead, trying to reach a particularly large cluster of eggs. Edward grinned serenely from behind; he preferred to take egg hunts slow, to make sure he didn't miss any well-hidden candy.

Bella was almost upon the cluster when-

"_Ow!_"

"Bella?" Edward immediately caught up to his accident-prone friend, who was frowning and rubbing the back of her head in pain and confusion, "what happened this time?"

"Something...fell out of the sky and hit my head," Bella said, unable to keep from smiling at the inanity of it all, "The 'yoon-a-verse' hates me, 'member?"

Edward didn't respond. He picked up something gold and shiny from the ground, "Is this what hit you?"

Bella shrugged, "Guess so. It's a funny looking egg. Wonder what's in it."

Edward held the egg up to his ear and shook it. His eyes instantly narrowed, indignant.

"Nothing! There's no candy in it!"

"Oh," Bella was disappointed; she thought that such a nice-looking egg would at least have _something_ inside.

Edward started to toss the egg on the ground, but Bella stopped him.

"It is kinda pretty," The brunette said, "maybe I'll put it in my room or something."

Edward simply nodded, and the pair returned to their candy-collecting, blissfully unaware of how hard their friend's would hit them if they only knew…

**OoO**

And that is how the fabled Golden Egg ended up crammed in a back drawer in Bella Swan's room. Alice and Jasper have since spent days searching magpie nests in Forks', to no avail. Emmett never quite got over his traumatic experience that day, and has developed a crippling fear of bunny rabbits. Rosalie finds this very amusing. So remember the moral of this story: while questing for the Glorious Golden Egg, mind the magpies, and be wary of rabbits.


	31. Spaghetti Night

**This chapter was suggested by Bella Cullen-Luckier Than You, who wanted a split chapter-half Bella/Edward, half first kiss Alice/Jasper. Hope you liiiike!**

**Warning: Gratuitous Disney references.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight. I do not own Lady and the Tramp. I do not own The Lion King. What do I own? Apparently very little…**

**OoO**

Wednesday night was Spaghetti Night in the Mason household, and Edward and Alice were allowed to invite one friend each. There choices were obvious.

"Y'know, there's a game you can play with spaghetti," Bella Swan told Edward quietly. They were seated across from each other at the Kid's Table, alone because the adults were in the other room, and Alice and Jasper had crept off somewhere.

"Yeah?" Edward asked, interest apparent in his eyes.

"Have you ever seen 'Lady and the Tramp'?"

Bella didn't have to say anything else. With silly grins, she and Edward selected a sufficiently long noodle from the serving bowl.

"Ready?" Edward asked Bella once they'd gotten hold of the noodle ends.

"Go!"

_Sluuurrrrr-_

Stop. With about an inch left between them, Bella and Edward stared at each other with wide eyes. They broke off, giggling nervously.

"I think we lost," Edward said.

And so they tried again.

_Schluuuuuuurrrrrrrrr-_

Their noses collided. They opened their eyes and this time there was nothing nervous about their giggling fit as they broke off. This trial was more favorable, so they tried bumping noses again...and again...and again, finding the collision funnier each time.

By the time the grown-ups checked to see how things were going at the Kids Table, Bella and Edward were collapsed in their bright plastic chairs, laughing like maniacs. Mr. and Mrs. Mason stared, bemused both by the inexplicable hysteria, and by the fact that, though very little spaghetti had been eaten, the children's faces were covered with sauce.

**OoO**

"I like outside-eating best, don't you?" Alice asked with a sparkling smile as she crawled out the open window onto the porch roof. Jasper followed with a grin of his own. He was thinking, not for the first time, that Ally was the coolest person he'd ever met.

"My parents don't know I do this," Alice went on, once she and Jasper had settled with their plates of spaghetti, "So it's a secret, kay?"

Jasper nodded; that went without saying. As they ate, he studied his friend carefully. Jasper had picked up on something different about Alice tonight-a frenetic energy that went beyond her usual bubbly behavior.

Instead of mentioning his observation, Jasper asked, "What's in the box?"

Alice had been toting a shiny white box the whole time, and now she opened it eagerly.

"Dessert," She proclaimed, flicking the lid to reveal a pair of store-bought sugar cookies, shaped and iced in a likeness familiar to any seven-year-old.

"The 'Lion King'!" Jasper recognized immediately; it was one of his favorite movies, and now the cookie faces of its main characters stared up at him with icing smiles.

"Mm-hm," Alice hummed. She held Jasper's gaze as she said, "You're like Simba, and I'm like Nala."

Something about Alice's words made Jasper smile. He took the Simba cookie. In the brief silence that followed, Alice shifted the remaining spaghetti around her plate and nibbled a bit at cookie-Nala's ear.

"I'm bored," She declared suddenly. Alice scrambled to the roof's edge before Jasper could even speak, "Let's play tag."

By the time Jasper was leaning over the side, Alice had already started down the adjoining trellis.

"Alice," Jasper started, but then he forgot what he wanted to say, if he'd even known to begin with.

Alice stopped climbing to look up at him. Jasper looked right back. Then, swiftly and without warning, Alice popped up to peck Jasper on the lips. Jasper was stunned. Alice smiled hugely.

"Your're it," She stated and hopped from the trellis, barely restraining a giggle.

Jasper watched her run across the lawn, pale little legs flashing.

What else could Jasper do? He ran after her.


	32. Little White Lies

**Well, I guess I warned you that this wasn't my top priority…**

**Anyway, I wrote this chapter super quick, so it's short, but I wanted to post it right away to make up for the wait.**

**This chapter idea comes from TheJazzledAuthor, who wanted a romantic RosaliexEmmett.**

**Enjoy!**

**OoO**

Rosalie really did not like the beach. She preferred clean, calm, over-chlorinated swimming pools to gritty, sea-weedy, critter-infested waters that tossed her about and left her feeling dirty. Problem was, Jasper went to the beach every week to meet up with Alice and feed the seagulls with her, and Rosalie's parents made her go along.

Rosalie liked Alice just fine, but she _hated_ seagulls, so she refused to go unless Emmett came. He was the only person in the universe who could make Rosalie snort with unladylike laughter, even while being descended upon by hungry, squawking gulls.

Presently, Emmett was tromping happily alongside Rosalie as she attempted to escape the horde of birds her brother and his friend had attracted with offerings of bread.

"So, whatcha wanna do?" Emmett asked the obligatory question.

Out of instinct, Rosalie looked at him before answering, and in that moment lost her breath. The sun had started to set, and something about the orange and pink streaks cast across Emmett's hair and face made him look different to Rosalie.

"Pretty," she breathed.

"Huh?" Emmett looked at his friend in confusion.

"Nothing," Rosalie covered, glad that she wasn't the sort to blush. Then, she noticed something a little ways down the beach: a lifeguard chair. Suddenly, Rosalie knew exactly what she wanted to do.

With unusual urgency, the blonde tugged Emmett over to the abandoned post. They climbed up and sat in silence for a second, at which point Emmett started fidgeting.

"So, what now?" He asked.

Rosalie huffed in exasperation, "We watch the sunset, dummy."

Emmett made a face but said nothing; he had never enjoyed sitting still for long periods of time, but Rosalie was acting strange tonight, and it didn't seem wise to go against her. Emmett had just made this diplomatic decision when he felt the girl beside him bury into his side.

"Rose?" He asked, surprised. The blonde peeked up at him with wide eyes.

"I'm scared of heights," She lied seamlessly.

"Oh. Okay."

Emmett was baffled, but even so he put a protective arm around Rosalie, which she happily snuggled into.

_I'm not sure what's happening_, Emmett thought, _but I think I like it._

So, with a greater sense of calm than even he thought possible, Emmett sat and watched the sunset. Meanwhile, Rosalie looked straight up at her friend, watching the streaks of color splay and shift across his face.


	33. Fun Forest

**To celebrate the BEGINNING OF SUMMER (can you tell I'm excited?) I'm doing another multi-part chapter, cause they're fun! One lovely reviewer suggested that I do a chapter with a theme park, but no matter how many times I look through my reviews, I just can't find it again! Whoever suggested this, feel free to let me know and I'll credit you. Anyway, that's what this chapter is based on. Enjoy ^_^**

**OoO**

At precisely 7am, Sunday morning, a red SUV pulls out of the Mason driveway. In the backseat, six children have sandwiched themselves into three seat belts. They are on their way to Fun Forest Theme Park. It is going to be a very long trip.

**7:02 am:** A chorus of "Are we there yet"s erupt from the backseat and continue for about eight minutes.

"How about you kids play The Quiet Game?" Mrs. Mason suggests, "Winner gets a piece of gum."

**7:10 am: **The Quiet Game begins.

**7:11 am:** The Quiet Game ends. Jasper splits his stick of gum with Alice, even though she was the first to lose.

**7:30 am:** Edward and Bella play 20 Questions, holding hands under their shared seatbelt. Jasper and Alice take turns drawing on each others arms with felt tip markers. Rosalie tries to keep her face flat as Emmett tells her bad knock-knock jokes. Mr. and Mrs. Mason thank the heavens for the silence.

**7:54 am: **Juice boxes, cheesy-sticks, and teddy grahams are distributed.

**8:01 am:** All six backseat occupants begin to do the potty dance.

"I'm gonna pee my pants!" Emmett groans.

"Not unless you have a death wish," Rosalie hisses, squirming out of the seatbelt that conjoins her and Emmett.

**8:09 am: **Potty break.

**8:30 am: **The children pile back into the car, thoroughly relieved and toting 99 cent bags of candy they'd "cajoled" their parents into buying. Once the car starts moving, they tear into the bags. Roughly 20 minutes of sugar-induced hyperactivity ensue.

**9:03 am: **Alice and Emmett burst into a rousing chorus of "99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall." At 84 bottles, Rosalie elbows Emmett in the stomach, and Jasper distracts Alice by stealing her gummy worms. That's the end of that.

**9:24 am: **"Bella's foot is on my side," Rosalie complains.

"It isn't," Edward interjects calmly, "and you know it isn't."

The adults pretend not to have heard anything, but the children delve into a heated debate over where "sides" start and end. Boundary lines are drawn, and promptly broken.

**9:35 am: **Edward, Jasper, and Emmett have a thumb wrestling competition.

**9:47 am: **Emmett is declared Thumb War Champion.

**9:50 am: **Emmett must give up his title-to Bella.

**9:59 am: **Everybody plays The License Plate Game.

**10:16 am: **A yawning epidemic infects the backseat.

**10:30 am: **All the children are officially asleep. Six heads knock together with every little bump.

**11:11 am: **The Mason SUV pulls into Fun Forest Park.


	34. Fun Forest 2

**Part Two for you guys—I'm having a lot of fun with this idea, so there will be at least one more part after this one, maybe two!**

**Disclaimer: Pfft, c'mon.**

**OoO**

Emmett and Rosalie stood defiantly in the "Big Kid" section of Fun Forest Amusement Park. Rosalie hated the patronizing primary colors and grinning animal cut-outs of "Kiddie Land" and refused to go on the babyish rides. Emmet wanted to go on the Coyote Coaster, but he was thwarted by the smug-looking cardboard coyote whose sign proclaimed "You Must Be This Tall."

"That is so dumb," Emmett declared, glaring at the cardboard canine.

"Yeah," Rosalie agreed, "It really is."

Though she wouldn't admit it, Rosalie really had wanted to ride the coaster with Emmett. She liked the idea of going all the way up to the top and feeling the wind rush through her hair, and of laughing and screaming all the way down with Emmett.

"Hey," Emmett's voice cut through Rosalie's disappointment, "Maybe if we get a really long coat, and I stand on your shoulders, we could—"

"Emmett…no. Just, no."

**OoO**

As Edward and Bella staggered down the platform of the Gravitron, Edward slipped a supporting arm around Bella's shoulders.

"Why—?"

"Nuh-uh," Edward chided playfully, "you're not allowed to walk on your own after a ride like that."

Bella made a face at him, "Don't be silly. I'm fine."

"Really?" Edward retracted his arm.

Before she'd taken three steps, Bella started to stumble into a railing. Edward righted her, and this time Bella let his arm stay around her.

"S'all your fault, y'know," she accused mildly, "You and your dumb spinny rides."

Edward gave her his "innocent look" and Bella's annoyance, which had been slight to begin with, melted away.

"It's your turn to say what we do next," Edward reminded his friend.

Bella pondered this. They'd already gone on the Ferris Wheel, which was her favorite ride. She looked around the park for inspiration.

"I want…" At last, Bella's eyes landed on a little white and red striped cart on the green between rides, "Cotton Candy!"

With thoughts of sugary goodness in her head, Bella tugged a bemused-looking Edward over to the vendor, with whom she exchanged $1.25 for a fresh-made, baby pink swirl of fluffed-up sugar.

"Want some?" After a few blissful bites, Bella offered Edward some of the pastel-hued swath, which was bigger than her head.

"Er…what does it taste like?" Edward eyed the confection warily.

Bella gaped at him.

"You've never had cotton candy?"

Edward shrugged, embarrassed.

"It just looks so pink and fluffy and girly."

Edward had a phobia of such things thanks to all the times Alice tried to play Dress-Up Barbie with _him._

"It tastes like—like—" Bella racked her mind for a suitable comparison, but came up blank, "Like _Cotton Candy!_"

"Uhm…" Edward continued to stare at the treat as though it might bite him.

"Here," Bella smiled and plucked some fluff off her white paper cone, "trust me."

Edward felt his phobia rearing up again, but he obediently opened his mouth, into which Bella popped the candy. He started to chew, then stopped. His emerald green eyes went wide with wonder.

"It disappeared!"

Bella giggled.

"Yeah, it does that."

**OoO**

"Ah! I win!" Alice declared as she burst from the Hall of Mirrors a step ahead of Jasper.

"I'm dizzy," Jasper said, "Let's not race through there anymore."

"Kay," Alice shrugged as she and Jasper strolled down the Midway, "I'm bored of that anyway."

Alice eyed the gaming booths skeptically as she passed. They all looked boring, especially the games of chance, cause she always seemed to know just where the wheel was going to land.

"Ooh!" Jasper stopped, "Look at that shooter game."

Alice frowned; she liked quirky, cute things, and rifles were most definitely _not_ cute. But, as always, Jasper's enthusiasm was infectious. Nobody could ever really say no to Jasper when he was excited about something.

"You can only play if you promise to win me a giant teddy bear," Alice admonished.

"Don't worry, Ally," Jasper beamed, "I'm a great shot!"

As usual, Alice couldn't resist smiling back.


	35. Fun Forest 3

**Part Three-One more to go =]**

**OoO**

"This ride looks dumb."

"Does not. Bet yer just scared."

"Just cause I'm a girl, I have to be scared of a stupid zombie ride?"

"Yup."

Rosalie scowled at Emmett. Was she really going to let herself be forced onto this lame ride by Emmett's juvenile reverse psychology? Oh yes. Definitely.

"Fine. Whatever."

"That's the spirit, Rosey-Posey!" Emmett sing-songed, bopping Rosalie with the giant balloon hammer he'd won at the junior "Test Your Strength" game.

_Mental note, _Rosalie thought, _make sure Emmett's prize "accidentally" bumps into something pointy. Soon. _

As the pair boarded Zombie Castle's rickety train seats, Emmett poked Rosalie's ribs playfully.

"Don't worry if ya get scared-I'm right here."

Rosalie didn't even bother dignifying that with a response. She stared blandly ahead as their train slid into the cool, sweat-scented darkness of Zombie Castle.

When the train creaked out into blinding sunlight just five minutes later, Rosalie's bored expression hadn't changed, and Emmett was pouting.

"You could've at least pretended to be scared," He muttered, feeling the acute sting of wounded masculinity.

"I'm a good actress, Emmett, but not that good."

OoO

Bella and Edward carefully climbed aboard the carved wooden boat of Troll River Caverns, one of the oldest rides in the park.

"It's like one of those Tunnel of Love rides," Bella murmured, then flushed Stop-sign red at her own statement.

"Yeah, but with trolls," Edward said, straight-faced while their boat bobbed gently toward the cave entrance.

Bella registered the nonchalance of Edward's reply, so she was shocked when, as they floated up to a waterfall backlit by rainbow lights, he leaned over and kissed her cheek. She blushed once again, but this time the warmth seemed to spread through her heart and tummy. She leaned her head on Edward's shoulder as Troll Falls splattered them with prism-hued light.

OoO

"Woooow," Alice breathed, "check_ this _place out."

She and Jasper had found there way over to a forgotten section of the Midway-an old-fashioned penny arcade packed with shabby-but-sturdy wood and steel contraptions.

"None of that flashy, loud, plastic-neon stuff," She murmured appreciatively.

Jasper found himself nodding in agreement; he liked first-person shooter-games as much as (if not more than) the next kid, but something about these old games inspired a sort of reverence. Out of curiosity, the blond inserted a coin into a game whose sign read, "SEE THE HORRIBLE UGLY BEAST"

He chuckled when the little oak doors flew open to reveal a mirror.

Meanwhile, Alice had activated the Madame Zoltara: Fortune Teller game. She watched, entranced, as the raven-haired, brightly dressed figure's crystal ball flashed different colors. Mystical music crackled from the ancient speakers. When Alice's fortune card popped from the slot, Jasper leaned over her shoulder to see.

"It's blank!" He observed indignantly, "The ink must've dried up."

"Nope," Alice smiled serenely. She grasped Jasper's hand and squeezed.

"It just means that I make my own future."


	36. Fun Forest 4

**Last Part! :D**

**OoO**

With great effort, the parents managed to round up three pairs of children, sitting them down to a hearty amusement park dinner of corndogs (save Alice, who'd decided that week to be a vegetarian, and so ate popcorn) and root beer floats. As the kids imbibed this "nourishment," they watched a play put on by Fun Forest employees dressed as various woodland critters.

"Wow!" Alice piped up once the sun had set, "It looks like a faerieland!"

The park, now illuminated by an impossible number of tiny multicolor lights, did inspire a certain amount of awe in the waning light.

"Pretty," Bella agreed.

From that point on, the children ate in silence, watching the park come alive with light.

When they'd finished their meals, Mrs. Mason informed the six that they could go on two more rides, but they had to choose together.

"I wanna go on the carousel!" Alice blurted immediately.

"Ooh," I love that ride," Bella nodded.

"Yeah, me too," Rosalie admitted, even though she hated having something in common with Bella.

Right away, the boys started groaning.

"That ride's fore sissies!" Emmett declared, and the other boys voiced their agreement.

A heavy silence fell as Bella, Alice, and Rosalie turned to glare at their male counterparts.

"I don't know about you," Jasper's voice broke the quiet, "but I _love_ the carousel."

**OoO**

The merry-go-round looked especially magical in the semi-darkness with its vivid colors lit up by hundreds of glowing white bulbs.

"I thought you didn't like rides that spin," Edward remarked to Bella, who said nothing but guided him toward a stationary seat shaped like a swan. It could fit both children between its wings.

"Maybe this ride isn't so bad after all," Emmett muttered. He'd selected not a horse, but a saddle-clad grizzly bear, while Rosalie stroked the voluminous white-painted mane of her horse.

"Giddy-up, Sparkles!" Alice cheered to the wooden unicorn she'd hopped up on. Jasper couldn't help but grin from his mount on the black stallion beside her.

None of the children were without excitement when the carousel started moving and the "race" began.

**OoO**

After they'd exited the carousel and wrapped up their squabbles over whose animal had really won the race, it was time for the boys to pick the next ride.

"Something fast," Edward said, "like the go-carts."

"Oh, or bumper cars," Jasper suggested.

"Nuh-uh," Emmett cut in decisively, dark brown eyes sparkling with mischief, "we're gonna ride the Super Soaker Log Flume."

Bella frowned, while Rosalie and Alice moaned about their clothes and hair. Jasper and Edward, however, cheered their agreement. It was settled. The last ride of the night would be the Log Flume.

**OoO**

Six sopping wet children boarded the Mason SUV as the last stars appeared in the sky. They were utterly sodden, but they were pumped with adrenaline and the joy of a day well spent. Much to Mr. and Mrs. Masons' dismay, not one of them slept the whole way home.


	37. The Great Outdoors

**This took longer to update than it should have—I have no excuse other than laziness. Incidentally, that's the same reason I split this idea into two chapters. Heh, sorry =]**

**This great idea was suggested by DanielleDanielle. I promise to have the second part up in less than a week!**

**OoO**

"You can't roast marshmallows without a fire."

"And you can't make s'mores without roasted marshmallows."

"And you can't have a camping trip without s'mores!"

The six children smushed into the tattered pup tent fretted of this conundrum in frustrated silence. They glared at Alice's upturned Barbie flashlight (their only source of light) as though the concentrated power of their stares might cause it to spontaneously combust into mallow-toasting flames.

"Maybe if we went back to the house, my mom would make'em in the oven for us," Edward suggested.

"But it's not a camping trip if you just run back into the house if you need something!" Emmett objected, "Everybody knows that."

"And besides," Alice agreed wistfully, "it just wouldn't be the same."

Another moment of discomfited silence passed before Jasper spoke up.

"I think I might have an idea," he said shyly, pulling a seriously tricked out army knife from the pocket of his G. I. Joe jammies. It just so happened that one of the extensions was a lighter.

"Awesome Jazzy," Alice gave her friend a quick, exuberant hug that tinged his cheeks with pink, "you saved the day."

"Heh," Emmett snorted, " 'Jazzy,' huh?"

This earned Emmett a death-glare from the fair-haired boy. The older child stopped his snickering because now that Jasper had the power of fire at his fingertips, he also had the jurisdiction to kick

Emmett out of the tent.

As the children set about toasting the puffy confections over Jasper's lighter, Rosalie eyed her younger brother suspiciously.

"I thought mom took that away last week."

Jasper met her gaze seriously, "You better not tattle."

Rosalie shrugged, "I'm just glad your army junk came in handy for once."

Bella and Emmett glanced at each other in a moment of mutual understanding; they were both very glad to be only children. All bad vibes dissipated, however, once all the children began munching on their freshly made s'mores.

"Hey guys," Emmett said through a goopy mouthful of marshmallow and melted chocolate, "Let's sing the Campfire Song-Song"

Without waiting for a response, Emmett launched into the first verse. For once, nobody tried to shut him up, even though he sounded like—in Rosalie's words—a tone-deaf walrus with laryngitis. In fact, but the second chorus, they'd all joined in. they finished the song in a burst of giggles, and, since it was obvious nobody was ready to sleep, pondered what to do next.

"Ooh, ooh, I know!" Alice raised her hand as through this was a classroom, rather than a little pup tent in her backyard, "We should tell scary stories!"

Bella grinned, "Emmett's pretty good at those. Maybe he should tell one."

"Well, I dunno," Emmett pretended to consider, "I don't wanna scare any of you little kiddies too bad."

"You and Rosalie are only one year older than us!" Jasper pointed out.

"And you're more in-mah-chore than everybody here," Edward added under his breath, making Bella giggle.

"Hey, I heard that!" Emmett protested.

"Just tell the story already!" Alice urged.

"Okay, okay," Emmett grabbed the flashlight and held it up to his chin. While the Barbie-flower-pring of the plastic holder detracted from the overall result, the pink-tinted lens created an unmistakably ghoulish effect as it played sanguinely over Emmett's round face.

"This," Emmett began in his creepiest voice, "is the story of the Campfire Monster."


	38. The Great Outdoors 2

**IMPORTANT NOTE: I will be ending this story within a few months. Please check my profile (under My Fics, then, Pigtails and Toy Soldiers) for more information.**

**This is the second and last part of The Great Outdoors. Please enjoy!**

**OoO**

"...And then, fangs dripping with the other campers' blood, the monster reached inside the tent and caught the last survivor in its claws and—"

"Eek!" Alice's shriek cut Emmett off mid-story. Everybody whipped around to look at the dark-haired waif with wide, dilated eyes.

"What is it, Ally?" Edward asked, already in big brother mode.

In response, Alice pointed mutely to a side of the tent illuminated by the flashlight's glow. It was clear that s_omething _out there was moving, scratching and bumping at the tent. To make matters worse, whatever this "something" was, it was _big._

"Maybe it's a bear," Emmett suggested, equal parts nervous and excited by this possibility.

"This is Alice and Edward's backyard," Rosalie pointed out, "not the forest, dummy."

"It's the monster," Bella whispered, and everybody heard because they'd all been thinking the same thing.

Jasper shook his head furiously, "No, it can't b—"

_Krrrr-rip, CRrrrrASH!_

"Ahhhh!" All the children yelled at once as whatever lurked outside grabbed the bottom of the tent and upended it, causing them all to tumble backwards before crashing gracelessly to the tent's new bottom (which had previously been the ceiling.)

"The monster's gonna eat us!" Emmett howled, and the rest of the children screamed, clinging to each other in anticipation of certain death.

However, instead of the slobbery snarls and thudding footsteps of the campfire monster, the childrens' ears were met with peals of nasty laughter from outside the tent. Cautiously, they crawled out of the upside-down flap door to see Jamie and Vickie practically collapsed against each other in hysterics. Beside them, another nine-year-old with black hair shifted from foot to foot, looking uncomfortable.

"That's not _funny!_" Rosalie shouted at them, pretty face red from the combination of screaming, embarrassment, and fury.

"Aw, did the babies get boo-boos?" Vickie mocked, still cackling, "did they wet themselves?"

"Hey," The black-haired boy spoke up, but not too forcefully, "c'mon guys, they're just little kids." When Jamie and Vickie ignored him entirely, the boy crossed his arms over his chest and looked away, as though pretending to be somewhere else.

"You're tress-pass-ing on pr-eye-vit prop'rty," Edward sounded the words out slowly, but his voice was deadly cold, "Get out. Now."

"Aw, take a pill kid," Jamie said, sobering, "we were passing through and thought we'd have some fun with you guys, is all."

"This isn't _fun_," Jasper snapped angrily.

"Not for you," Jamie said with the smirk he'd been practicing for a while now.

Before one of the younger kids could respond, Vickie affected a yawn and grabbed Jamie's wrist, "I'm bored now. Weren't we gonna get ice cream?"

"Yep, let's blow this place," Jamie said, linking arms with his red-haired friend.

Together, they strode off the lawn and hopped the Masons' fence onto the sidewalk. The dark-haired boy glanced back at the younger kids as though he might say something, but instead turned to follow his companions. When they'd gained a significant distance, Alice grabbed a rock off the ground and hurled it with all her might over the fence.

"Ow!" A familiar voice yelped, followed by a feminine giggle.

Then, "well you _did_ kinda deserve it, James."

"Shut _up_, Laurent."

On the lawn, Alice smiled in victory. "Bullseye."

"Whoa. Girl's got a cannon!" A sufficiently impressed Emmett remarked. He clapped Alice on the back, making the petite girl stumble forward. Alice glared at the now-sheepish Emmett, but there was also a little smile on her face.

"Nice," Bella complimented simply, and Alice's little smile turned into a big one.

"Well, I _do _pitch for powder-puff softball in the spring..."

As this conversation went on, Edward, Rosalie, and Jasper stared out into the street down which their tormentors had disappeared.

"I'm getting so _sick_ of those jerks," Rosalie hissed, voice filled with venom.

"They're bullies," Jasper agreed seriously.

"Soon, someone's gonna hafta do something about them," Edward muttered, mostly to himself.

"Hey guys!" Alice interrupted the solemn exchange, " they stars are really pretty! We don't even need to go back in the tent."

And so, they pushed aside their troubles and slept under the full moon.


	39. Beware the Jabberwock

**Ideas for this chapter and the next one by Lone Star Girl, Narcissa-Weasley, and twigirl3. Stick around to see what happens next!**

**OoO**

"Grown-ups never listen," Alice muttered sulkily.

"If mom doesn't believe us when we say this kid's crazy, that's fine, but that doesn't mean we should have a play-date with him!" Edward ranted. Alice nodded her agreement.

The Mason twins were currently standing in Jamie's backyard, hating the fact that his parents were friends with theirs. Fortunately, Jamie was still inside arguing with his mother, cause he wanted to got out and play with Vickie, not "a couple of boring babies," as he put it.

"Hi guys," Bella's brunette head popped up over the picket fence, startling Edward and Alice out of their misery.

"Bella! What're you doing here?" Edward greeted as he and his twin jogged over to the fence.

"Busting you out," Bella said in her best Detective-Noir accent. She reached out a hand to help Edward over the fence.

"Cool!" Edward smiled at Bella in gratitude, "come an Ally, let's go."

"No," instead of scaling the fence, however, Alice stepped away from it, "someone's gotta stay here and cover for you."

"Ally, I can't just leave you here," Edward started to climb back over, but Alice held out a hand to stop him.

"Go. I can handle myself just fine," Alice insisted.

"Are you sure?" Bella asked.

"Yes!" Alice forced a laugh, "Now, shoo!"

Reluctantly, Edward and Bella obeyed. When they were gone, Alice sighed. She didn't relish the thought of spending a day with Jamie, but she was sure she could handle him. After all, Jamie was mean, but he was also just a kid. What was the worst that could happen?

"Hey, where'd your brother go?" Jamie's voice came from behind Alice, startling her. She hadn't noticed him approaching, so his words made her jump.

"He went to the bathroom," Alice lied once she'd recovered. Jamie didn't seem to believe her, but he didn't call her on it.

"That's fine," he said instead, "you're more fun than him anyway."

Alice gave him her iciest glare, the one she'd learned from Rosalie. She made a point of not responding.

Jamie sighed. "Listen, we don't like each other. Neither of us even wants to be here, right?"

"So?" Alice turned toward him slightly, inviting him to continue.

"So, there's no point in us standing around hating each other's guts all day," Jamie concluded, "we could at least try get along and play a game or something."

Alice had to admit he had a point. "I guess you're right."

"Truce, then?" Jamie held out his hand.

"Okay, truce." Warily, Alice shook on it. A tentative smile passed between them.

"So...how do you like hide-and seek?" Jamie asked.

"It's one of my favorites," Alice enthused, grudge forgotten, "can I hide first?"

"Sure. I'll give you till a hundred," Jamie agreed. True to his word, he put his hands over his eyes and started counting.

Alice wasted no time getting away. Even with their new agreement, Jamie seemed like the type to cheat. She went in the house through the side door, darted up the stairs, and ducked through the first open door she saw. As it turns out, it was the door to Jamie's room. Said room was a chaotic, slightly frightening mess. There were horror movie posters on the forest green walls; a random assortment of items (among them were a pen-knife, a decapitated doll, and a baby tooth) was strewn across the desk and over the floor; the closet and dresser drawers appeared to be vomiting clothes. Also, there was a dartboard on the wall decorated with cut-out pictures of Disney characters.

There was something, though, out of place in this unsettling place. Peeking out from the tangle of covers on Jamie's bed was something powder-blue and soft looking. Curious, Alice extricated it from the mass of blankets. Okay, Alice had _not_ been expecting that. The soft-and-blue thing turned out to be a little stuffed bunny with a checked bow around it's fluffy neck. Scrawled on one of its paws in magic marker were the words "Hoppy tha Rabit. Prapurdy of James."

Alice stared at the blue bunny for a moment, not sure what to make of it, then remembered that she was supposed to be hiding. She slipped inside the closet, just managing to shut the door over the cascade of wrinkled clothes. Alice ducked behind a pile of clothing, perfectly concealed by the mound. Alice was feeling very content with her hiding spot until she heard Jamie's voice on the other side of the door.

"Found you," he said, and Alice could picture him smirking. He most have been sneaking behind her the whole time, watching her hide. Alice's anger at being cheated faded to dread when she heard the distinct click of a key in a lock.

"Hey!" Alice shouted, bolting forward and trying the now-immoble doorknob, "Hey, let me out! _Let me out!_" Alice banged her fists on the door, but all she heard in return was Jamie's laughter, then his retreating footsteps.

"Rule number one, girly," Jamie said before leaving the room, "Don't try to play with me. You'll lose every time."


	40. Beware the Jabberwock 2

**Part Two, in which revenge is had =D**

**OoO**

After a few desperate minutes of kicking at the closet walls and yelling her throat raw, Alice settled back against the back of the closet, considering her next move. Her mom and Jamie's mom were "chatting" right now, which is a grown-up word that means "talking forever and ever." When they were done "chatting," they would have lunch, then they would "chat" some more. Then they would have coffee and cookies and yet another bout of "chat." After that, they would look for Alice, and Jamies would probably tell them she went off in one direction or another and send them on a wild goose chase. She could be stuck in the closet all night.

Fortunately, Alice always had a Plan B.

"Princess Lolly calling Mr. Mint. Come in Mr. Mint. Over," Alice said into the sticker-covered walkie-talkie she'd pulled out of the holster on her sparkly purple belt.

"Mr. Mint reading Princess Lolly," Jasper's static-y voice buzzed after a moment, "What's your situation? Over."

"Trapped in Molasses Swamp by Lord Licorice. In need of assistance. Over."

"Help is on the way. Over."

**OoO**

"Alice needs our help," Jasper said to the small group of solemn looking children seated before him on the black-top.

"I knew I shouldn't have left her there," Edward said, glaring down at the ground.

"According to her," Jasper was going on, tapping the ruler he'd grabbed on his way out of the house against his hand, "she's been locked in Jamie's closet on the second floor of his house. She's given me the lay-out, and we've formulated a plan for both rescue and retaliation. You all have parts to play. I will give you your assignments—"

"Hey, Jasper?" Rosalie cut her brother off.

"Yes?"

"What's the ruler for?"

There was a beat of silence, then Jasper straightened up. "So, anyway, your assignments..."

**OoO**

As Jamie started to head out the back gate, a pair of arms hooked under his armpits, rendering him immobile.

"Hey! Let _go_!" He shouted furiously. He squirmed and thrashed about, but he wasn't having much of an effect.

"Not a chance, man," Emmett said from behind. Even though Jamie was a year older than Emmett and fairly strong, Emmett had a sturdier build and was already developing some muscle tone.

"Great to see you again, Jamie," Rosalie greeted, appearing from behind a tree.

Jamie rolled his eyes at her. "What're _you_ gonna do? Braid my hair?"

"Nope," Rosalie said with a big sly grin, "I'm gonna SING."

"...huh?"

"Solar Plexus! Instep! Nose! _Groin!_"

"..._Ohhhugh_..." Jamie very nearly passed out from the pain.

**OoO**

"Ally! Y'in there?"

"Yup! I knew you'd come!" Alice perked up at the sound of Jasper's voice on the other side of the closet. "Now get me outta here."

"One sec." Jasper's tongue poked out of his mouth in concentration as he worked the lock with his Swiss Army Knife. At last, the tumblers popped, the door gaped open, and Alice danced out.

"My hero," Alice sighed, pecking Jasper on the cheek. "Now, where're the others? Does someone have the camera?"

Jasper nodded over at the window. Alice looked out to see Edward and Bella below. They'd had to arrange themselves into a little tower so Jasper could open the window and climb in. Now, Bella waved a little video camera above her head.

"Perfect," Alice grinned. Before she and Jasper left the room to head for the back door, she grabbed the powder-blue bunny off the bed.

**OoO**

Jamie sneered when Alice, Jasper, and Edward walked triumphantly into his line of vision. Emmett and Rosalie were still holding him inert.

"So you got your friends to help you out," Jamie addressed the black-haired waif, "goodie for you."

Alice looked at him, emerald eyes burning with intensity. "You're gonna leave us alone from now on."

Jamie snorted. "Not likely. You kiddies have started a war."

"Wars have hostages," Jasper said quickly.

"What?" James blinked.

Alice cleared up his confusion by pulling the plush rabbit out from behind her back. James eyes went huge.

"Hoppy!" James gasped in horror.

"So, it'd be best if you called a truce. A real one," Jasper explained, all seriousness. To emphasize, he pulled out his Swiss army knife and put the blade against one of the bunny's floppy blue ears.

"Alright!" Jamie said quickly, "Fine. I'll leave you guys alone. Just...don't hurt Hoppy, okay?"

"Okay," Alice said softly. Jasper flicked the knife closed, and James gave a sigh of relief.

"Now say you're sorry," Edward commanded.

"What?"

The trio gave him a stern look. Jamie made a face. "Fine. I'm..._sorry_. I'm sorry for being a jerk to you guys, and I'm sorry for locking Alice in the closet. So. Freaking. Sorry. Is that enough?"

"Well..." Edward grinned, and Jamie groaned.

"Yeah," Alice interjected, "that'll work." She handed Jamie his bunny, and he gave it a quick little hug.

"Kay," Bella peeked out from her station by the swing-set, "I got it." She clicked stop on the camcorder, and Jamie frowned, now aware of the fact that these kids had a video of him huggling a stuffed bunny and—ugh—_apologizing_.

"This," Alice said, motioning to the camera, "is just to make sure you don't go back on your promise."

"You kiddies are _blackmailing_ me?" Jamie demanded, surprised. He smiled. "Guess you've got more guts than I thought. Well played."

Oh, yes. For Rosalie, Emmett, Alice, Jasper, Edward, and Bella, this was checkmate.


	41. PLEASE READ

**EXTREMELY IMPORTANT! READ ME!**

**Dear Readers,**

**The last two chapters were, for all intents and purposes, the conclusion of this fanfiction. I'll be posting two more chapters in the coming weeks as a sort of epilogue, and after that I will consider this story complete and will not post any more. The truth is, I lost much of my creative passion for Twilight a few years ago (though I do still like the books and characters,) but this fic always held a special place in my heart. I'm sorry to say that now I've outgrown this story as well. I thank you all so much for your wonderful reviews and ideas for chapters. You've made working on this so much fun, which is why it's harder for me than I thought it would be to give it up.**

**Please stick around and read the final few chapters. Thank you so much for the support and the smiles I got from your reviews.**

**~Morbid **


	42. School Days

**So, this is an idea that's been suggested by a number of readers, and it seems like a fitting way to end the story. In this chapter and the one that will follow, the characters are around twelve or thirteen. This is a nice long chapter, so, enjoy =D**

**OoO**

Forks Junior High was a friendly little red brick building situated on a hill several blocks from Main Street. Now it was late September, so Jasper, Alice, Edward, and Bella were just settling into the seventh grade, while Rosalie and Emmett were starting their final year before high school. They've all since outgrown the playground, but they continue to see each other ever day in these halls, and one of them is never seen without another from the final bell to sunset. Simply put, they are inseparable.

**OoO**

English class had always been Edward and Bella's favorite, especially since they both took the advanced course and so had it together every day. Now that their teacher had assigned _Romeo and Juliet_, however, "English class" was synonymous with "public humiliation." Because it was a play, the teacher arbitrarily called on students to act out scenes in front of the class. Today, Bella had been chosen to read Juliet's monologue.

"Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou, Romeo?" Bella choked out. Her face was burning so hot, she could probably double as a radiator. She was posed awkwardly in front of her class, who stared back from their desks with either boredom or Schadenfreudic grins.

Bella stuttered through a couple more lines before tearing her eyes from the floor. The first thing Bella saw upon glancing up was a pair of intent, emerald green eyes on what Bella privately considered to be an angel's face. When Bella had been selected to "act," Edward had moved up to one of the first desks to "get a front row seat," as he'd teased earlier. Now though, the ginger was watching Bella earnestly, without a trace of amusement. When he saw Bella looking his way, Edward offered a reassuring smile that filled Bella with light.

_He's my Romeo,_ Bella thought.

"What's in a name?" The brunette continued, louder and with more confidence than before, "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet..."

By the time she'd finished the monologue, Bella was standing tall and proud, without a trace of blush. Edward clapped at the end, not minding the odd looks he received from the other students. Grinning, Bella did a little curtsy and started to head back to her seat. As Bella passed Lauren Mallory's desk, however, the blonde just _happened_ to stretch out her leg, and Bella—naturally—tripped. It was a good thing Edward had taken that front desk because he managed to catch her just in time, sparing Bella some nasty bruising.

"Heh. Thanks," Bella said, not at all unused to this sort of occurrence.

"Brava," Edward murmured referring both to Bella's performance and her subsequent stumble. Before releasing his girlfriend, he gave her a quick peck on the forehead.

"_Ahem_," the teacher cleared her throat, "please try to remember that you're in a _class room_."

The chastisement was met with snickers from many a student.

"Sorry, Ms. Eckhart," Edward and Bella said, beet-red and grinning. The couple sat down at their adjacent desks, laughing quietly behind their books.

**OoO**

Jasper and Alice saw no practical reason to attend study hall, so they simply didn't. The art room was empty this period, so, with the locking-picking assistance of Jasper's trusty Swiss Army Knife, they sneaked into the Photography Dark Room for a bit of privacy. Currently, they were seated Indian-style on the floor across from each other, engaged in intense competition.

"Okay, next one," Alice said. She squinted at the bag of Jelly Belly candies in her lap and identified one of them with her cell phone light. Jasper waited patiently for Alice to select a bean and pop the candy in his waiting mouth. He chewed the jelly bean slowly while Alice waited for his guess with baited breath.

"Hm...Bubblegum," Jasper pronounced finally.

Alice beamed; she'd _finally _gotten him! "No, it's—"

"Oh, sorry," Jasper cut in, "I meant _Lemonade_ Bubblegum."

In the darkness, Alice couldn't see the triumph grin on Jasper's face, but she knew it was there. The dark-haired girl deflated. "Oh, fine. You're right."

"It's a gift," Jasper said proudly.

"I'll get you eventually," Alice swore and redoubled her efforts to trip up Jasper's eerie Jelly Belly ability.

"Blue Raspberry...Tutti Fruity...Popcorn...Sour Apple...Cotton Candy," Jasper identified each flavor in turn, thwarting every one of Alice's attempts. "Is that the best you can do, Ally?" The blond teased, reaching out in the dark with surprising accuracy to tickle Alice's foot.

Alice gave a shriek and a giggle. She'd taken off her Prada pumps to sit, thus exposing her greatest weakness: the extremely sensitive soles of her feet. Alice recovered and tucked her legs under her.

"No," She responded to Jasper's taunt seriously, "it's _not. _Keep your eyes closed. No cheating."

Jasper smiled. He never cheated—he really did have a gift for Jelly-Belly identification—but he found his girlfriend's determination adorable. "Ready when you are."

"Good," Alice said, "this'll stump ya."

"Doubt it," Jasper murmured, but he _was_ surprised when, instead of an over-sweetened candy bean, Jasper felt the soft pressure of Alice's lips on his own. Alice lingered only an instant before pulling away by just a few centimeters.

"Well?" She prompted gently.

"Uhm..." Jasper, slightly dazed, tasted the residual sheen of sweet-flavored gloss Alice had left on his lips, "Strawberry?"

There was a moment of silence as a big smile bloomed over Alice's face. It was a silence that clearly said "_Gotcha._"

"Strawberry _Vanilla_," Alice corrected gleefully, emphasizing the last word with a playful nose-bump.

"That one," Jasper said, resting his forehead against Alice's own, "is definitely my favorite."

**OoO**

Emmett McCarthy was captain of the Junior High football team, and Rosalie Hale was the school's head cheerleader, so it only made sense that they would be a couple. At least, that's how the rest of the school saw it, and neither Rosalie nor Emmett ever bothered to explain that there was so much more to it than that.

On those warm, fall afternoons, Rosalie would watch out of the corner of her eye as Emmett ran and tackled and tossed, whooping and hollering the whole time. He was always so happy on the field, and Rosalie thought look mega-hot in that uniform.

Meanwhile, Emmett would steal glances from his helmet at the cheerleaders on the sidelines. Well, only _one_ cheerleader. He sometimes cringed at the way Rosalie barked orders at her squad, policing the girls through cart wheels, herkeys, and flying leaps like a military drill sergeant. The girl was a perfectionist, and a scary one at that, but Emmett thought she looked so cute in that uniform.

As both practices wrapped up for the day, Emmett did not follow his team mates to the locker room. Instead, the dark-haired boy sprinted toward the sidelines, where Rosalie was giving a "pep talk" that would undoubtedly leave the other cheerleaders with inferiority complexes. Emmett was all hyped up on adrenaline and Gatorade, and Rosalie was so engrossed in her scathing speech that she didn't notice her charging boyfriend.

Instead of greeting Rosalie or announcing his presence like a normal human being, Emmett stopped right behind the blonde and picked her up bridal style. Rosalie gasped I shock, then, when she realized what was happening, started yelling breathlessly at Emmett to _put her down already!_ Emmett ignored his girlfriend;s demands and starting loping off toward the end zone with Rosalie in his arms. It was not a difficult endeavor—Emmett was the strongest kid in school, and Rosalie was a light-weight.

"Ugh, _gross_, you're all _sweaty_," Rosalie complained, swatting at Emmett's chest to hide the fact that she'd started giggling. "My hair! You're messing up my hair!" She gasped, but now it was no use because she was laughing in between her protests. There was nothing to do now but sit back and enjoy the ride.

"Touch Down!" Emmett cheered upon reaching the field's edge.

"You're—you're so dumb," Rosalie laughed, still clinging to Emmett's shoulders.

Emmett looked down at Rosalie's flushed face, messy pigtails, and shiny violet eyes. "And you're beautiful."

"I know right?" Rosalie giggled, cuddling her head against Emmett's chest. She knew she was lucky to have Emmett to remind her that life was supposed to be fun, and Emmett just felt lucky to have her.


	43. Date Night

**This, my dear readers, is the end. I'll thank everybody one last time and wish you all good luck with your future reading and writing. This fic has been a great experience for me, and I hope it has been for you as well. Goodbye, and happy reading :)**

**OoO**

Bella and Edward were having a picnic in their meadow—the one they'd found on a hiking excursion the year before. As was their custom, Bella brought the wicker basket filled with homemade sandwiches, pasta salad, and ripe strawberries, while Edward brought the blanket and several freesia-scented candles. Strawberries and candles, Bella and Edward believed, were very romantic.

With the soft grass, wildflowers, and concealing circle of trees, it was the perfect place to practice kissing, especially with the sun setting in the background. Now that Edward and Bella were officially boyfriend and girlfriend, they figured it was time they learned how to kiss for real. The seventh graders went about this by forcing themselves through Mrs. Mason's collection of chick-flicks and frame-by-framing the all-important kiss scenes.

Little adjustments in pressure and positioning, nose bumps and nervous giggled characterized these practice sessions. It was experimental, fun, nice; a game that Edward and Bella didn't quite know the rules to, but enjoyed playing all the same. Very entertaining, very pleasant, but...

"It's not—it's not just right," Bella said softly, drawing away.

"I know what you mean," Edward said back, equally hushed.

"You're, um, you're very good though," Bella added, a faint blush tinting her cheeks.

"So are you," Edward smiled, "wanna take a break? I—ah—I tried to back cookies."

"You baked?" Bella restated, doe-brown eyes wide with disbelief.

"I felt bad you were always making the food, so, yeah," Edward explained, suddenly very interested in a nearby patch of grass, "but they came out kind of weird and salty. Alice laughed at me."

"I want to try them," Bella cut off Edward's dual explanation/apology.

"You've been warned," Edward reminded Bella as he pulled a tin out of his backpack, along with a blue plastic container. "I brought Cool Whip, to counteract the salty-weirdness."

The cookies were of the large, chocolate chip variety. They were kind of crumbly, jagged in places, and indeed a touch salty, but when dunked in the Cool Whip, they were entirely edible. Bella found herself both enjoying the treat and appreciating this reminder that Edward was not totally perfect at everything.

"Look, Venus is out," Bella said, wiping crumbs off her jeans. She pointed out the Evening Star that glowed soft, bright white in the pink-lemonade sky.

"It's very beautiful," Edward said, though he wasn't looking at the stars.

"Yeah, it—" Bella never got to finish her sentence because, as she turned, her eyes locked with Edward's. Like magnets, their lips pulled together and locked in a kiss. It was perfect.

**OoO**

Emmett was glad he didn't have one of those girlfriends who'd drag him to see sappy romantic comedies whenever they went out. Every Friday, when Emmett's team mates got their older siblings to take them to the drive-in theater, Rosalie accompanied him to whatever action/adventure spectacle the boys had decided upon. Rosalie didn't _like_ piling into cars with packs of loud, sweaty boys, but she would tolerate the experience for Emmett's sake. Besides, action movies were her favorite too, and when she and Emmett watched them together, in some spot separate from the rest of the guys in their football jerseys, it certainly qualified as a real date.

"Wow! Look at that explosion!" Emmett remarked, eyes transfixed on the billowing fireball lighting up the screen. He and Rosalie were sitting on the hood of Emmett's parents' car, watching good guys fight bad guys while lots of stuff blew up. If there was one thing that could mesmerize Emmett, it was hardcore cinematic pyrotechnics.

"Mm-hm," Rosalie's head bobbed once in a nod. Her response was less enthusiastic than that of her boyfriend, but she still had that feeling of vicarious, excitement induced by on-screen detonations.

Another round of gunfire, and both eighth graders giggled with delight. Rosalie's throat felt dry, so she sipped the large fountain soda she and Emmett were sharing. Too sweet. Rosalie preferred diet, but Emmett had whined, and she'd been in a good mood, so they'd gotten the regular, sugar-packed Coke. To balance it out, Rosalie plucked a single, fluffy, pale-yellow kernel from the red and white carton between them. Butter and salt. She reached for one more, and this time her hand brushed Emmett's, who was reaching out into the container for another fistful of popcorn. Both of them stopped their individual pursuits and clasped hands.

They could feel each others' pulses in their palms, racing from the action unfolding before them. Over head, the sky was fiery with sunset. Hearts racing, adrenaline pounding, they tore their eyes from the movie and smiled at each other. On screen, a car went up in flames.

They kissed. Fast, hard, spontaneous—just like an explosion.

**OoO**

"Hey Jasper, let's go to Paris," Alice said once school got out, "I mean, it's the City of Love, and it has the _best _shopping."

"When?" Jasper asked. He was quite used to Alice's whims.

"Today," Alice replied.

"Okay," Jasper shrugged.

So that's how Jasper and Alice ended up at _La Patisserie_ in Port Angeles_. _Jasper had known without asking that it was his job to figure out how he would be getting them to Paris tonight. After telling their parents they were going to the library to do homework, Jasper brought Alice to the airport (bus stop,) where they boarded the plane (bus) to Paris (Port Angeles.) They'd gone to the shops, where Alice tried on outfit after outfit. Jasper did his school work while waiting and simply told Alice that she looked great in everything. At this, Alice gave him an exasperated-yet-flattered look, and Jasper just laughed. Alice fell in love with a glittering pair of dangly earrings, and Jasper bought it for her with his allowance. Alice showered him with _tres Parisienne_ cheek kisses.

After that, they found a little art gallery and went in to admire the works and nibble at platters of crackers and cheese set out for visitors. They sampled the bottle of red wine to complete the illusion, but promptly spat the bitter liquid back into their little plastic cups. Unfortunately, Jasper and Alice were uninspired by the hanging paintings—not enough color, they critiqued sagely. Alice suggested that they stand on their heads to view them, and go figure, they looked much better that way. Not very long after that, a skinny blonde woman with cat-eye glasses and an all-black ensemble asked them to leave.

"_C'est la vie!"_ Alice and Jasper sighed mournfully, then cracked up laughing.

Now they were here, sitting outside _La Patisserie _on delicate little patio chairs at a matching table. They'd gotten hot chocolate (_Chocolat Chaude, _they insisted on calling it,) because it was like coffee, but much better. They were working at an almond _croissant_ and a chocolate _mousse_ they'd selected from the display. White Christmas lights twinkled above them, and a model of the Eiffel tower stared out from the bakery's storefront window.

"One day, Ally," Jasper said after they'd finished picking at flaky pastry crumbs and licking remnants of chocolate whip from their spoons, "I'm going to take you to Paris for real."

"Oh, Jazzy," Alice smiled, eyes bright. There was nothing else to say, so they kissed.


End file.
